Elantya
by gregorians1015
Summary: Rye, Nina, Kaye, Fine and Ryou go on a quest to search for crystals that can transport them to Elantya, the lair of Sasha. She plans to destroy earth. Thing is, they need 6 crystals, they can only get one each. How are they to get the last? READ.
1. Chapter 1 the test

It was a cold winter night. The city clock tower rang which signaled it was already midnight. Rye was tucked snuggly in her bed, dreaming away. The door to her room opened with a creak, a woman stepped inside. She walked towards the girl's bed, making a loud creaking sound every step she took. The girl opened her eyes, but before she could put together what was happening, she saw a jet of white light- and she blacked out.

"—I know what I'm doing!" a dark woman whispered angrily to her companion.

"I told you to bring them back _safely,_" argued the other woman. "NOT stun them and bring them back here!"

Rye was stirring; she opened her eyes slowly and saw she was in a circular room. She wasn't alone, though. She was with four other kids— who looked like they were never stunned, but otherwise looked frightened to be here, wherever they were. The curly haired woman saw Rye sit up.

"SEE!" she said pointing at Rye, "She's fine!"

Her companion rolled her eyes and approached the center of the room. Rye noticed that a stage was located there now, but she could've sworn it wasn't there a while ago.

"As our other recruit has now awoken," She said indicating Rye. "We shall now begin the test. You will be joined by 15 other examiners through that door," She pointed at a brown, wooden door at the other end of the room. "At the sound of my whistle, please enter the room and close the door behind you." She paused for a second or two and blew her whistle.

Rye was confused. Why was she taking a test in the middle of Christmas vacation? Where was she? Who's that fat lady ordering her to do stuff?

But even though she had no idea who she was, she walked toward the door along with the other 5 kids.

"Hey," a kid with glasses said to Rye. "I'm Nina." She held out a hand and Rye shook it.

"I'm Pat, but I'd rather you call me Rye." She replied. "Have any idea what we're up for?"

Nina just shook her head. They reached the door and opened it together. They entered the room and saw the same woman they saw in the other. _That couldn't be right. _Rye thought to herself. _Wasn't she just—._ But before she could look back, the door closed behind them. The 3 other doors in the room opened and from each of the doors, emerged 5 kids, 15 more in all, _like the fat woman said_. Rye thought.

The woman cleared her throat.

"Please take your seats at the stands," She said. We all looked around; we couldn't see the stands she was talking about. And just as I turned my head right, the stands materialized right before our very eyes. They all stared at the stands, and slowly they filled the seats.

"I will call you each one by one," explained the woman. "Try your best to defend yourselves, if you feel you cannot do it anymore, just shout that you give up and Miss Aina will escort you back to your homes."

_Perfect. _Rye thought. _I could give up even before it actually starts…_

"Estrella and Flores." Rye stood up, along with another girl at the end of the row. They took their positions at the middle of the room, after about 5 seconds of waiting, the door infront of them burst open—a huge dragon was right there, staring at both of them. Rye was about to shout 'I GIVE UP!' but when she opened her mouth, no words came out, instead, fire did. The fire hit the dragon directly at the face. Rye couldn't believe what she just did. She didn't feel like giving up anymore, she felt like she knew what she was doing. She raised her arms slowly and pointed her palms directly at the dragon, again, fire came out and the dragon burst into flames and moments later, turned to dust. The Flores girl didn't even do anything; she just stood there, her mouth open, gaping at the sight in front of her. The crowd at the stands looked more like fishes out of water. Their mouths were all open as well, even Rye couldn't believe what she just did. The fat woman nodded and checked something on her clipboard; she then stood up and said:

"Ah, very well done Ms. Estrella, you may take your seat again. Miss Flores, Aina shall escort you back to your home."

Rye took her seat again, and Aina came forward to hold Flores' hand, for a moment they just stood there, and the next thing they knew, they vanished. But not even a minute has passed and Aina was back again. The tests continued on, each pair trying to fight off a different animal from the previous pair. By the end of the test, only 10 remained.

The fat woman stood up and clapped her hands rather slowly. No one else did anything, they just stared.

"Oh, I'm sorry I forgot my manners," She said as she stopped clapping. "I forgot to introduce myself, I, am Darah." She paused and looked around the room.

"But no need for further explanations right now, right now, you need to take another test."

_ANOTHER one? What next, we're gonna kill each other? _Rye thought. She could tell by the other kids' faces that they weren't too glad about another test either, but even though, they still followed 'Darah' to the next room.

"This test is rather simple really," Darah said as she turned to face the children. "You just have to go through the maze. The first one to reach the staircase and ring the bell wins." She paused. "Again, if any of you wishes to quit, you may shout the same words I have told you."

This time, Rye didn't want to quit at all. She made it this far, why would she quit? She really didn't know why she didn't want to quit, after all, she didn't even know what this test is for-

"Let us start of with Mr. Sebastian and Ms. Ocampo." A handsome looking blond moved forward together with a curly haired, short girl.

"You may enter the maze at the blow of my whistle." She looked at the two children first for a second, and then blew her whistle at once.

About 10 minutes passed, still, they heard no bell. Rye thought that maybe those two were just too stupid to get there. _The maze couldn't be THAT hard… _She thought. Just as Darah looked at her watch, they heard a girl screaming from the maze, the Ocampo girl gave up. Aina disappeared from sight, probably to go get her.

"We have one official member," Darah said, clapping her hands together. "Those of whom who will pass this test as well, will join Mr. Sebastian at the other end of the maze."

"Let's get back to business, Ms. Delacour and Ms. Estrella, if you may come forward please." Rye stepped forward immediately, the Delacour girl stepped forward rather reluctantly. Darah blew the whistle, and they entered the maze. At first, it was bright, it was easy to see, but as Rye got deeper into the maze, fog came along, darkness poured down. She could hear Delacour from the other side, running. She looked straight again; a figure in a black cloak was standing in front of her. It said words Rye couldn't understand, _probably another language. _She thought, then, as the figure stopped talking, Rye felt an intense pain growing all over her body. She fell to the floor, then, as if by magic, she felt like she was glowing, she slowly stood up, feeling the energy coming back to her, spread her arms and an orb came rushing out of her and hit the hooded figure. It collapsed to the ground; Rye stepped over it and went running. She didn't want to encounter another one of these things, whatever it was. It felt weird, like all the happiness was getting drained out of her and worse, she felt like her soul was being removed. Just then, she saw a hint of gold in front of her, she ran faster and faster. Moments later, she was infront of the bell, she rang it furiously and moments later, she was in another room with the Ryou guy. He stood up and faced Rye.

"You passed too?" He asked her.

Rye wanted to say 'No, I'm here because I was sent to watch over you in case you get into trouble.' But thought it was too rude and nodded instead.

"I'm Ryou," He said, holding out a hand. Rye shook it. _What is it with these people and handshakes? _"I'm Rye." They sat down near the fireplace, waiting for more people to come. Rye looked at the clock every 5 minutes or so, 10 minutes passed. She and Ryou heard the familiar sound of a bell ringing, moments later, Nina joined them in the room.

"THAT WAS THE FREAKIEST TEST EVER!" she said wide eyed. They both murmured their agreement. Sebastian introduced himself to Nina, who went to the bookshelf immediately to read. Rye was getting bored of waiting. She grabbed a book and flicked through the pages, not even bothering to read them. The book was even upside down. Sebastian noticed this and laughed quietly to himself. Moments later another one appeared. Her hair was sticking out in all places, her glasses were lop-sided, she was soaking wet…  
"WERE THEY TRYING TO DROWN US OR SOMETHING?" They all stared at her; probably no one else had to go through a pool.

"You didn't have to go through a sea?" She asked confused. We all shook our heads.

"Then what DID you guys go through?" She asked.

They all recounted their stories of what happened to them in the maze. Nina encountering a giant spider, Sebastian going through a dark forest full of snakes and Rye's encounter with the happiness sucking demon. The girl introduced herself as Kaye. Kaye took a place near the fire place, trying to dry herself off. Rye took back to flicking through pages of an upside down book. Moments later the very last member appeared. Awkwardly, she looked calmer than ever. She looked around the room and her eyes stopped at Sebastian.

"H-h-hi!" Was all she could say.

"Um… hi?" Sebastian said.

The girl shook her head and came back down to earth.

"Oh, sorry. I'm Fine by the way."

"We could all see that," Rye said. "You look perfectly calm."

"No, no, no." Fine said shaking her head. "I'm not _fine. _Well, okay I am. But my name is _Fine._" It took a while for them to get that her name was actually Fine. But by then, Aina had appeared.

"Congratulations to all of you," She said looking around the room. "You will meet Mr. Dumbledore later at dinner time for further explanations." She said.

_Dumbledore? _Rye thought. She could've sworn she saw that name in one of the books a while ago. She shared this to Sebastian, who just said she couldn't have, for or she was flicking through the book upside down. Rye just stuck out her tongue.


	2. Chapter 2 their leader

_Stuck up, annoying boy. _She thought. A servant appeared in front of them, ushering them to the dining hall. As they reached the hall, they saw a man with a white beard and odd half-moon spectacles.

"Hello, my young friends." Said the man.

"Uh….Hi…?" They stuttered. It was more of a question than a greeting.

"Ah, I see that I have forgotten to introduce my self, children, I am Dumbledore."

"Ryou here." He tried to speak as casually as he could, but he couldn't stop giving weird stares at the man. _Jeez, does he ever shave?_ He thought. Rye just laughed softly at the stare he was giving.

"Hi, I'm Fine." Frances said.

"Ah, my dear, I see there's nothing wrong with you." Dumbledore answered.

Frances couldn't resist rolling her eyes at the man. She wrote a mental note to introduce herself as Frances to other people that seemed weird to her.

"Rye." She tried to sound friendly, but she just sounded more hostile. Her mother always told her not to talk to strangers, for their clan was always a magnet for trouble involving random people. Yet, her mother was always polite.

"There is nothing to be afraid of, my child." Said the man with the beard, sounding distant, looking at the window as if remembering a haunting memory or seeing something they couldn't see. What he said sent chills to her spine. She would be very careful this time.

"Hello Sir, I'm Nina." Said the other girl with black and white framed glasses.

"Always the polite one, I see." He said.

She couldn't help but feel awkward with this peculiar and more weird-looking man.

She tried to smile to lessen the tension. You could feel it, like a hanging fog around you.

"H-hi! I'm Kaye." Said another one with glasses, thinking as if she was forgotten.

"Now that we're all acquainted, come sit with me." Said Dumbledore, motioning them to the round table in the corner of the room.

Graceful was a word that you could never use to describe their movements. They were all walking with unease, tripping on flat surfaces. _Testing gravity_, they'd say with a shrug.

Even the ever-so-calm Ryou looked a little bit tense. But they would follow, they wouldn't want to go through any punishment, seeing that tests here were already their closest ideas to 'hell on earth'. All they wanted right now was an explanation, their old life back and to be reuniting with their families.

_Family_. They remembered. What should they be thinking now?

They sat around the table, looking at the man, trying to decipher his next move.

"I know you're wondering why you're here," Said the man, stating the obvious.

"You see, as odd as it may seem," He continued. "We need you, we need your help."

All he received were wide-eyed stares from the thirteen year-olds.

"Huh?" They said in unison. They were all clueless, trying to put the pieces together. First the crazy test, now this. _What the hell is going on?_

"You see, all of you are special," Dumbledore explained.

"What kind of special does he mean? Pssh, it sure takes one hell of a special thing to throw innocent people in some kind of out-of-whack situation like this…" Muttered Ryou.

"Shut. Up." Said Nina, annoyed.

Rye just kicked him under the table, where no one could notice. Dumbledore, on the other hand, seemed to notice their little argument.

"Young ones, is there a misunderstanding?"

The girls flashed him a smile, telling him that it was alright. The sole male member of the group just nodded.

"What is needed of us?" Asked Kaye, finally speaking up.

"You five must go on a mission. You must correct what is wrong." He simply said.

They still didn't have a clue.

"All will be explained tomorrow. I believe you all are tired." Dumbledore said. Then he mumbled something they couldn't understand.

The lady, Darah, appeared again, smiling at them. Nina gulped.

"Uh, Kaye," She paused uneasily. "Mind telling me why she looks like..we're her midnight snack?"

Kaye could only shrug. Darah laughed, a loud yet happy laugh that made them feel reassured that they were safe.

"Come on guys," She began, with a warm smile. "Let me show you around."

At this point, they could now breathe easily and think clearer. They heard Dumbledore's soft chuckle.

Kaye and the others passed through long, winding halls. As they were walking she thought about her family. _Would they be worried?_ She thought. _Do they know where we are?_ Heck, even Kaye didn't know. Though she was a lot calmer now, she still felt uncomfortable. So many questions and no answers. The doors in that place seemed to glow, as if nothing were as it seemed. Curiously, she moved her hand to touch the part near the knob that seemed to be decorated with tattoo-like runes.

"No!" Exclaimed Darah. Kaye froze in place.

"Ah..I-I'm sorry!" She stammered.

"It's fine, you didn't know anyway. You see," she explained, "those marks keep it locked from the outside, rooms are soundproof, not to disturb the inhabitants. Privacy is valued here, you know," said Darah with a smile.

_Privacy, huh? Talk about being grabbed from bed! _Thought Rye as Darah was busily engaged in conversation with Kaye. All of them were worried about what their family would think. Earlier, she heard Dumbledore converse with Darah about sleeping arrangements and other things. _I guess we're staying here for the night._ She wanted to know where the residential wing was, sure, it was a pretty big place and there were lots of things you could bother yourself with, all she wanted now was to continue that disturbed slumber of her's. She noticed Darah's footsteps come to a stop in front of three rooms.

"Kaye, Nina. Over here. You'll be sleeping here for now." Said Darah, showing them a room with lavender-colored walls and two beds.

"Yeah, awesome. Sleeping sounds more tempting than chocolate right now." Said Kaye, yawning.

"I call it a night," Agreed Nina. "Night guys." She said, closing the door at their faces.

"Wow, that was rude." Said Frances. Darah didn't seem to mind.

"Ryou, Rye. Here's yours." Announced Darah.

"What? I've got to stay with that idiot?" Rye shrieked. Ryou just smirked.

"Why yes, you do," Darah said calmly. Sometimes, Rye wondered if this woman was blind.

"Well, Frances, you've got the luxury of staying in a room by yourself." Said Darah.

"Oh, you do not know how much I want your room." Declared Rye, sadness and annoyance evident in her tone.

Of course she knew that Fine had some kind of crush on Ryou, it was obvious when she looked at him and stuttered. She didn't know what she saw in him at all! Rye looked up and said,

"Oh great. Now I'm stuck with the oh-so-awesome idiot."


	3. Chapter 3 the truth, sort of

"Aw it can't be that bad." Ryou said smirking. "We're gonna have lots of fun." He said as he elbowed Rye.

"Do that again, and I swear I will kill you!"

Ryou just smirked even more and entered the room. Rye reluctantly followed the big peanut brain inside. Rye walked towards the bed nearest the window, as she got 5 feet away from the bed, Ryou stood in her way, arms spread.

"Oh no, I'm taking _this_ bed. You can have _that_ one." He said pointing to the bed near the beat up looking closet. Rye had enough of this jerk. She sighed a heavy sigh, put one foot up, and stomped so hard on Ryou's foot. Ryou jumped up and held his foot, jumping on the other. Rye took the time to go towards the bed. She smirked at Ryou and said;  
"Yeah… We're gonna have a _lot _of fun."

They got ready for bed and drifted off to sleep as soon as their heads hit the pillows.

Rye woke up the next morning, bright light shining at her eyes.

"RYOU! CLOSE THE CURTAINS WILL YOU?" Rye demanded as she put her pillow above her head. She heard no response. Frustrated, she got up in a bolt and saw Ryou was still asleep. She looked at the clock, it was 8am. Darah had told them the previous night that they were supposed to be ready by 8:30. She got off her bed, her pillow in hand and walked over to Ryou. She put her mouth near Ryou's ear and shouted:  
"WAKE UP PEANUT BRAIN! IT'S ALREADY EIGHT AM!" She shouted, hitting Ryou with the pillow in the process.

Ryou nearly slapped Rye in the face, but she was right. They had to get ready. Darah had filled their closets with clothing that would suit today's 'activity.' Rye took out a suit that looked like what they wore in _Totally Spies._ She looked at it with a hint of disgust in her face. It wasn't really what you could call fashionable. Rye raced Ryou to the bathroom. She got there first, she entered, but not without sticking her tongue out at Ryou. She changed at top speed. As she got out of the bathroom, she saw Ryou changed quick as well. _Probably thought I'd see him naked and got scared…_ Rye thought. She checked herself out in the mirror.

"Does this suit make my butt look big?" She asked Ryou.

"Not as big as your head…" Ryou answered without even looking up.

"But now that you've mentioned it…" Ryou thought. "Yeah, your butt looks _pretty _big." He smirked. Rye was about to argue, but she was stopped by the knocking at their door. Rye told whoever it was to come in. The door burst open—it was Fine.

"You don't need to come barging in you—" But Rye was cut short. Fine completely ignored her and focused her eyes on Ryou. Rye compared Fine to a fish out of water again. She just stood there gaping at Ryou. She rolled her eyes and started fixing her hair.

"Any particular reason you're here?" Ryou asked, an eyebrow raised.

Fine looked like she just recovered from a trance, she looked around the room, confused where she was. Her eyes met Ryou's. Her eyes became wider and wider. She turned to the door and ran out.

The 5 of them waited together at the dining hall. Rye made sure to sit as far away from Ryou as she can. Fine was making sure of the exact opposite. She was practically glued to Ryou. After what seemed like hours to Rye of waiting, Dumbledore, Darah and Aina arrived.

"Ah, I'm sorry to keep you all waiting." He began. "As I have promised you last night, I will give you all further explanation, am I right?"

They all nodded eagerly.

"Well, I thought about it last night." He said. "And I think the best way for us to explain to you, is for you to do it."

They all looked confused. How were they supposed to do it, when they don't even know what 'it' is?

"I get it!" Ryou exclaimed, he was wearing an amused expression on his face. They all turned to Ryou. Rye couldn't believe it, above all people, peanut head had to be the one to get it.  
"We're supposed to act in a movie or something, aren't we? That's why we're wearing these!" He said. Dumbledore chuckled and shook his head.

"No, Ryou." Ryou looked disappointed. His life long dream was to star in a movie.

Fine's life long dream must've been to be Ryou's girlfriend in at least the movie… Rye thought.

"Speaking of those suits," Dumbledore said after a pause. "You are wearing unique ones. As you can see, you all have different colored suits, symbolizing the powers you posses."

_Powers?_ _What are we, some freak show? _

Dumbledore looked amused. "No, Rye. You are most definitely _not_ in a freak show."

He paused. "You are, however, special. You five above the 20 children we've chosen in the whole country, are the ones most likely to succeed." He paused, waiting for any reaction. But none came, all their minds were busy, working out what was going on, succeed in what, exactly?

"I guess I owe you all a very long explanation." He said.

"Duh, you just kidnapped us last night and now—OW!"

Nina had kicked Ryou in the knee from under the table. Ryou took this as a hint to stop talking.

"But I am afraid there is no time for long explanations," they all looked disappointed, some a little mad. "I can however, offer you just a brief talk on what is going on." They all moved closer, wanting to hear everything for themselves.

"The world is in jeopardy and only you can save it." He said in a matter-of-fact tone of voice. They all waited for more, but nothing else came from the wise man's mouth.

"That's it?" Rye asked, a little annoyed with the 'explanation' they got.

"That's all you need to know for now." he said. "Right now, you five need to go down to the practice arena to train with Aina and Darah." He nodded at his two assistants.

"Don't we get to eat breakfast first?" complained Kaye.

"Ah, of course, I almost forgot the most important meal of the day." He clapped his hands together and instantly, food appeared right infront of them. They were too hungry to even talk, they dug in like hungry cheetahs. The food disappeared almost as quickly as it appeared. Dumbledore let them rest for five minutes, considering their full stomachs.

"So where are we exactly?" Nina asked as she sat back.

"That," Dumbledore began. "I cannot tell you for the time being."

"Are we still even in America?" Kaye asked.

"I cannot tell you that either. This is a special house, you see. No one can locate it without my saying. When you leave here in 2 days, you will not leave through the front door, you will leave via teleportation." Dumbledore said.

"How come we can't know?" Rye asked.

"Because the information might fall into the wrong hands." Dumbledore said simply.

"Enough jibber-jabber now. Follow Aina and Darah, they shall lead you to the training arena."

They all got up and followed the assistants out of the room. They went down a long, long, long spiral staircase.

"Doesn't this place have an elevator?" Nina complained, trying to catch her breath.

No one took notice to her question. Darah and Aina stopped in their tracks, causing the 5 to bump into each other due to the abrupt halt.

"OW! You did that on purpose!" Ryou shouted at Rye, she 'accidentally' stepped on Ryou's foot again.

Darah put a finger to her lips, and they fell silent. Aina entered a code into the lock, the door swung open.


	4. Chapter 4 Training Goes Wrong

The five followed Aina and Darah into the dome-like arena, wondering why they were there. Aina spoke while they were wondering,

"As you all know, you are to save the world. But you cannot do that without proper training, no matter how great your powers are." Darah spoke next.

"In three days, you must master your powers," She looked at them apologetically, here voice softening and dropping, as if she were talking to a child.

"Look, we know it's such a short period of time but, we've got no choice. We know you can do it, we believe in you, now you better believe in yourselves."

As strange as it may seem, the five believed her. But still, they didn't know what to do. _We're just thirteen year olds…fine. _Special_ thirteen year olds, whatever you say._

"Each of you have unique and special talents," Began Aina. "It'll help you during encounters with other unpleasant beings who prevent you from succeeding."

"But, let me remind you," Darah said. "Be careful of who you trust. Distractions take any form."

_What's she blabbering about now? Distraction takes blah blah blah… _They thought.

But they couldn't help but listen, they had that sure feeling that they'd need this someday.

"Rye," Said Aina, calling her attention. "Do you remember the first test?"

Rye nodded.

"What did you use against the dragon?" Asked Aina. Rye's eyes widened.

Fire. She saw fire just magically shoot out of her body.

"Fire," She answered. "I don't know how it happened, but suddenly it just came out of my hand. Then I aimed it at the dragon, next thing I know, its gone." She didn't receive any weird stares from her companions because, surely, they've been through something like that, to actually survive the test. They had to battle different creatures to pass.

"Fine, what did you use?" Asked Darah.

"If…she has fire… I must have earth then, because when planned to run away, the ground cracked beneath that…monster, it fell, then…" She trailed of. "That's about it." She finished.

"Kaye?" Asked Aina.

"It was very hot. So all I wanted was wind, I thought of it really hard, then all of a sudden, the enemy was pressed against the wall, its back being penetrated by the sharp rocks. I looked down, I wasn't on the ground." Answered Kaye.

"Nina?" Asked Darah.

"So I went in, then there were things on fire there, and there was this, like... crazy fire-monster in there, then water was shooting out of my fingers like some unlimited faucet."

Said Nina. Each of the four girls had one of the four elements.

"Ryou." Said Aina, calling on the last member.

"So the girls have the elements. Means I don't have any of them. I've got invisibility, or so I think. Okay, okay. I know for a fact that I'm not insane," Rye rolled here eyes. Ryou glared at her. "Frances?" He said, raising an eyebrow. "Why on earth are you looking at me like I've got seven arms?" Kaye, Nina and Rye just stared at the two. They were looking at each other's eyes. For a moment, time seemed to stop as it were frozen. None of the five were actually breathing, just staring. Keep that up for five minutes, they'd be dead. Fine looked lost in his eyes, Ryou just looked like he was drowning and choking, as if there were no air.

Darah decided to break the silence. "Now we've got that over with, you must know that you possess more than one power. Each of you have 6 powers. You've only uncovered one. You must do so on your own. Feel free to train. You need all the training you can get."

_So they tell us that we need to save the world, not tell us what our other powers are, then leave? Are they insane?_ Thought Ryou. Rye and Nina, as if sensing his thoughts, kicked him together. _What the hell is with these two and kicking?_ He mused.

All of them knew they had to do it, but none of them knew how. Their mind was going blank. Absently, each of them made their way to a corner of the arena, far from each other. They needed time to stop and think. Fine knelt down on the floor, searching for the solution, trying to decipher how her powers would activate. Rye sat down by the corner, her head in her hands. You'd think she was crying, but she was very deep in thought. Kaye was squatting, sure, it was a tiring position, but it was one where she could think best. Nina, on the other hand, was just standing, present, yet mentally absent. She looked distant too. Ryou just leaned on the wall, arms crossed, practically looking like he was waiting for a miracle. If you were there, you'd know they all were.

They heard a slashing sound, breaking them from their trance.

All eyes were on Nina. Flying broken shards of crystal were coming out of her body, shooting in random directions. The rest were looking for a suitable hiding place, apparently, there was none, so they were jumping around like little kids scared of clowns.

A flying shard hit Rye, but instead of blood coming out, it was as if here body was some kind of bulletproof glass. She needed a lot of energy for it. The closest to her was Ryou, who felt like the rest of his body transformed into impenetrable jelly. Fine could protect herself all right, as she seemed to have created a deflector shield of her own. They sensed that something was wrong, as they turned, they saw Kaye in a pool of red liquid.


	5. Chapter 5 New Powers, Some, More Amusing

Aina and Darah hesitated. Instead, they decided to give them all a hint.

"RYE!" Rye turned to look at them. "Use your negativity reversal, NOW!" Rye looked at them, dumbfounded. _Negativity Reversal? WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU PEOPLE TALKING ABOUT? Ohh I just feel like kicking Ryou right—_

"NOW, RYE!" Darah shouted, sounding a lot distressed.

"I-I-I DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT!" Rye stammered. She felt like the weight of the whole world was on her shoulders. She didn't know what those 2 were talking about. When Darah and Aina finally decided Rye wouldn't do anything soon, they ran forward and Aina carried Kaye out of the arena, and into the infirmary—which was conveniently located just a few paces away from the entrance to the arena.

"Sorry 'bout that…" Was all Nina could say.

"This is all your fault!" Ryou shouted. "If it hadn't been for you-."

"QUIET!" Darah shouted louder than ever. They all fell silent. _Wow… you're shouting there, and you want _us _to be quiet?_ Rye thought, but thought better not to say it out loud.

"There will absolutely be NO arguing in this arena!" Darah said. "Nina was doing what I told you all to do, which I am proud of, Nina." She said nodding to the girl in the back. "What happened just now, was a perfect example of what could happen to you guys out there if you don't train well." She said accentuating every word. _Wow, that just makes me feel even better. Not only could we fail, we can die in mid-process too._

"No negative thoughts, Rye." Darah said, not even looking at the girl. Rye couldn't believe it- she was invading her personal space! Rye just pouted.

"I want you all to continue practicing. Forget what just happened, concentrate hard on training."

"So by forget about what just happened," Ryou started. "You mean completely forget about Kaye?"

"NO!" Darah was getting frustrated. "Just, just keep practicing. I assure you Kaye will be fine."

They said no more. They returned to their positions a while ago, thinking harder and harder. Rye couldn't help but laugh, Fine was concentrating so hard she looked like she needed to use the bathroom or she was going to explode or something. Then she caught Darah's eye and went back to concentrating. Moments later, they saw Fine move forward to the center of the arena, she was doing the chicken dance. Nina and Fine stared, laughing their butts off, rolling on the floor. But then they noticed Ryou was deep in concentration. _NO WAY, he's doing that? That's totally unfair! I want that! I could make Ryou jump in a vat of toxic waste! _Rye thought, obviously envious.

"Ah, I see you have discovered you have _Telepathic Suggestion, _Ryou." Darah said, looking at the girl in the middle, doing the chicken dance. "I see you need no further explanation at what this power does," Darah said, looking now at Fine doing the worm. "Back to your training, everyone."

A smile appeared on Ryou's face, then Fine collapsed to the ground, looking dumbfounded. Rye laughed even harder.

They all went back to concentrating. Rye was getting furious, she kept thinking and thinking and thinking, yet nothing was happening. They heard the familiar sound of a door opening, they turned and saw Kaye entering with Aina.

"Kaye is doing fine," Aina began. "But I'm afraid she can't join practice this morning."

"I'm glad you're okay, Kaye." Rye and Ryou smirked. "You may stay and watch the others training, I must tell you, it's very amusing." Kaye sat down beside Darah. Seconds later, Darah made popcorn appear out of thin air and handed it over to Kaye, who ate it as if she had never eaten popcorn before.

Rye concentrated even harder now. After about a minute's worth of total silence, she got frustrated, even more frustrated than the time Darah said she'd be room mates with peanut brain. Suddenly a beam came out of her eyes and hit the boulder 1 foot away from Nina, it shriveled into dust. Nina looked at Rye wide-eyed.

"If you're that mad at me for hurting Kaye…" She said looking at the pile of dust beside her.

"NO!" Rye said. She wasn't mad at Nina at all. She was actually content now, finally one of her powers had come.

"That's called Necro Vision," Aina explained. "you can fire beams from your eyes that can cause instantaneous, painless death to whom it makes contact with."

"Cool," Rye said to herself. She immediately pictured herself looking directly at Ryou, a beam shooting from her eye…

"Why is it taking _forever _for my powers to show?" Fine complained rather loudly.

"Concentrate harder Fine, just need to think, think earth, think land." Darah said.

_Think of a cave, that's probably where the love of your life, Ryou lives. _Rye thought.

After more and more minutes of silence, Rye heard the sound of a kitten meowing. She turned and saw Fine cradling a kitten in her arms.

"Ah, you have the summoning power, Fine." Darah said. "You can summon any creature that you think of, as long as you concentrate hard."

"Perfect, a kitten would surely scare away enemies." Ryou said sarcastically.

"Summoning can do more than that, Ryou," Aina said. "In fact, if Fine wanted to, she could summon a snake to attack you right now."

"GO FOR IT!" Rye immediately blurted out, without even thinking. But Darah and Aina ignored it. They were satisfied, all of them had at least discovered one power this morning, but of course Kaye was excused since she was injured. They practiced with their newly discovered powers until lunch time. Aina and Darah decided it would be better to let them improve their newly discovered powers this morning, then more training in the afternoon would mean they could discover a new one. By the third day, they should have mastered all of their powers and be ready for their task.

"Alright, let's go grab some lunch then. We all deserve a break." Aina said

No one bothered to argue with her this time, not even Rye or Ryou. All the training drained a lot of their energy from them. Going up the spiral staircase, that didn't really help them as well. By the time they reached the dining hall, they were all sweaty, tired, famished and some looked harassed. Mainly because Ryou was taking advantage of his newly found power, making Nina jump all around like a buffoon, Rye an Egyptian dance around the whole arena and Fine do a duet with Rye, singing 'Pyramid.' _That was the most exciting and entertaining practice ever. _Aina had said as she ended practice. Rye disagreed 100% though.

They all sat down together and began digging in. Just like breakfast, it didn't take long for all the food to be devoured. The plates even looked like they were already cleaned by the dishwasher.

"I could really use a shower now…" Nina said after finishing her last bite of shrimp cocktail.

"Not so fast guys," Darah said. "Training isn't over yet."

"WHAT?" They all said in unison.

"We have to train hard if we want to beat Sasha!"

"But we're _tired._" Fine complained.

"I know you are, and I'm sorry. But this is for your own goods." Aina said.

"You can rest for a few minutes, then we go out to the back yard. You will be practicing attack and defense."


	6. Chapter 6 Someone Likes Cave Boy

"Practice, practice everybody! Attack and defense alright? Attack and defense!" Repeated Darah like some crazy drama teacher on overdrive.

"Pair up, pair up!" Said Aina. They were to practice with their roommate.

_I'm tired, I look like some totally insane person and we still have to practice. And we will. Not to mention…Why do I have peanut brain as a partner? No doubt the world's coming to an end. _Thought Rye. Nearly all her thoughts of him were thickly laced with sarcasm.

They were face to face with their partners, Fine with Nina, because Kaye was still injured from earlier, and Ryou with Rye. Fine and Nina took the left side of the arena, while Ryou and Rye took the right.

"I'll attack, now you better defend yourself." Said Rye with a manic glint in her eyes. Ryou gulped. There was no way he could refuse without getting bruised. He turned around, only to come face-to-face with ten other Ryes.

"So this is the Dimensional Mirror…" Said the ten Ryes together. _How do I find the real one?_ , thought Ryou.

Meanwhile, Rye was just sitting in a corner, watching the boy panic with an amused expression on her face. _Another new power discovered. That ought to keep him busy._

Nina and Fine were practicing as well, though it didn't really get them anywhere.

Ryou noticed a big shadow hovering on Fine. _So that must be another of my powers,_ thought Nina. _Shadow controlling. Cool. _It was very useful, but it seemed to have no effect on Fine, because it just passed through her, not making any mark.

"Whoa, check this out! I can pass through things!" Said a very excited Fine.

The doors to the arena opened, revealing a recovered Kaye.

"Hey guys, they said I could practice with you." Said Kaye, with a smile. The four would probably go easy on her, even if they just met her for a while, they became fast friends and no way would they risk her getting hurt.

Then the arena was terribly windy, everyone ended up flying and hitting each other. None of them expected Kaye to be so powerful. Weapons were everywhere, and it seemed like Kaye was their master, for the weapons would probably stab anyone who came near. The four flying people couldn't think straight, and they probably didn't know why they were just whirling around the arena, with Kaye on the ground, in deep concentration. When the wind stopped, Rye and Nina were thrown to opposite ends of the arena and Fine and Ryou were in a _very compromising position._ _Fine and peanut brain sitting on a tree…or more like living in a cave._ Rye smirked.

"Why can't I get up? Shouted Ryou. "It's like the world's sitting on my stomach!" There, he realized that there was a girl on top of him, hugging him as if she were losing her dear life. His face was a mask of shock. "What happened?" He asked. Fine just stared at him, as if memorizing his features. _His peanut brain is smaller than I expected!...What is it now, sand? _

"Sorry," apologized Kaye. "Powers got a little out of hand." She said with a guilty smile.

Of course she was forgiven, they knew she didn't mean it and Ryou couldn't really hold a grudge against her.

Training was finally over, the walk from the arena seemed like and endless journey to them and they barely had enough energy to talk. They immediately went to their rooms. She noticed that their things were there, including some of her books and her iPod. _Her dear, dear beloved iPod._ Ryou beat Rye to the bathroom. They heard this loud crashing sound against their door. None of them were shocked. _Probably Fine and her needs to see her… Prince Ryou. _Rye thought with distaste. Rye exited the door, while Fine and Ryou were having some unofficial staring contest that she couldn't understand.

Rye headed to Kaye and Nina's room, and saw that they also noticed their things being there without them bringing it.

"Must be their crazy powers again…" Muttered Nina. She had her DS in hand, poking furiously at the touch screen with her stylus. Kaye had her favorite manga volumes that she'd surely share with Nina, since it was something that they both liked. Their friendship must be tighter then some people's pants…

When Rye got back to the room, it seemed like nothing happened. Unofficial staring contest still ongoing. Ryou pushed Fine to the door, saying, "Okay, good night, see ya later. BYE!" You could tell that he felt awkward by the expression on his face, and he sounded like a lion was chasing him. Rye looked out the window, staring longingly at the night sky. _Guess this isn't the Rye that kicks, eh?_

Rye asked Ryou in a soft voice, "If rye fell…would you catch it?" _What does she mean? Why is she referring to herself in third person?_

"I guess so…" Answered Ryou. The tenderness and kindness disappeared in Rye's eyes. "Oh, you're on."

They finally called it a night, at 1 am. They could use the sleep, they needed energy for more and more training tomorrow, and even walking to places was a hard thing. Ryou fell asleep immediately, seeing that he was bruised from being assaulted with flying loaves of _'Rye'_ bread. As they slept, they wondered what tomorrow would bring…


	7. Chapter 7 New Powers, New Romance?

Rye woke up the next morning to the sight of Ryou already fully awake. He was dressed in today's 'appropriate' clothing. Rye got furious that Ryou didn't even bother to wake her up.

"Hey peanut brain… WHY DIDN'T YOU EVEN BOTHER TO WAKE ME UP?" Rye shouted, getting out of bed.

"Because…" Ryou said calmly. Rye was frustrated that Ryou wasn't at all affected by her sudden outburst. "It's only 6am." Rye calmed down. _Six am? But that's like…_ she mentally counted how many hours left. _Three hours earlier than we're supposed to wake up. _

"Oh, then why are you awake so early then?" Rye asked awkwardly.

Ryou didn't answer. After minutes worth of silence and more day dreaming, Rye decided to get ready early as well. She took a shower and got dressed in today's outfit. It wasn't really that different from yesterday's, just as unfashionable as ever. She went back to their room and found Ryou lying in bed. She didn't know why, but she felt like she wanted to strangle Ryou or something. She decided to ease her anger by listening to her iPod. It seemed like hours. Rye kept on pressing shuffle, but she still ended up pressing next until she found the song she liked. She decided to go and check if Nina and Kaye were awake. It was already 7am anyway. Just as Rye made way for the door, Ryou sat up from his bed.  
"Where are you going?" he asked.

Rye was getting irritated, Ryou was just being so nosy.

"None of your business, go crawl under a rock or something." Rye said as she closed the door behind her.

Ryou rolled his eyes and went back to playing his PSP. _Girls… _he thought.

Rye knocked on Nina and Kaye's door. To her surprise, someone answered her from the inside, they were already awake as well. I guess she and Ryou weren't the only ones who couldn't sleep well. She sat on the floor next to Nina and Kaye.

"Ryou is just so _annoying._" Rye said. She wanted to take out her anger on something.

"You know," Nina began. "Fine would kill for the position you're in right now."

_Position? What you talking about?_ Rye thought. She didn't know what Nina meant, heck, she would kill to be in ANYONE'S position other than hers right now. Well, maybe not Fine's…

"What do you mean?" Rye asked as she gave up thinking about what Nina said. Her laziness to think straight overcame her.

Kaye rolled her eyes at Rye. Rye got the intense feeling to slap Kaye, but thought better of it, she wanted to know what these two were talking about. Nina and Kaye looked at each other for a second and smirked.

"He obviously likes you, Rye." They said in unison. Rye looked serious for a moment, then she began laughing so hard her stomach hurt.

"Nice—one guys." She said as she pounded her hands on the floor. Nina and Kaye looked at Rye pitifully. Rye stopped laughing and looked at both of them.

"You're not kidding, aren't you?" she asked, hoping for an answer she wouldn't get.

To her disappointment, Kaye and Nina shook their heads. Rye pursed her lips, stood up and stomped out of the room. She went into Fine's room, not even bothering to knock. She went up to Fine, so close Fine could feel Rye breathing.

"TAKE MY LIFE! Take it if you want to!" Rye said, exasperated.

"Huh?" Was all Fine could say. Rye sighed and left the room, leaving a terribly confused Fine behind. She entered their room without another word. Ryou said something as she entered, but Rye was too lost in her thoughts to pay attention to that peanut head. Rye lied back down on her bed, earphones where they're supposed to be, closed her eyes and imagined peanut head drowning in the lagoon. That soothed her down a lot, for when she opened her eyes, she realized it was already 8:53.

They went down to the dining hall together. Rye took note to kick Ryou in the knee as much as possible during brunch—which she did. Poor Ryou was left dumbfounded, he was randomly being kicked by his stubborn little—crush… Dumbledore had told them they would have practice 9:30 until 1 in the afternoon. They were already used to this kind of news, so they didn't bother to argue anymore. They walked back down to the arena, it took a longer time today, since they were all walking so slowly, they all only had about five hours of sleep. Aina and Darah took their positions at the stands, watching the five intently for any sign of improvement. An hour has passed an yet, nothing exciting had happened. Rye looked around the arena, Fine was leaning against the wall, her eyes closed, Kaye was resting her head on her hands, Peanut Brain being his usual peanut self and Nina—was _teleporting?_ Rye watched intently, Nina moving from the entrance to the arena, and then suddenly appearing next to Fine, making the poor girl wake up and jump, shocked at the sudden appearance.

"Teleportation, Nina." Aina said. Nina looked proud of herself.

_Why does _she _get all the cool powers? _Rye asked herself.

More and more minutes passed. Rye wasn't really thinking that hard anymore, Nina was still teleporting here and there, trying to perfect her new power.

"You're about to find out a new power, Rye." Kaye shouted. "And you plan on using it on Ryou once you figure it out…" Kaye shouted from the other side of the arena.

Okay, _now_ Rye was getting frustrated. _Kaye can tell the future, huh?_ _Great, another great power I don't have._ Just then, she felt her mind turn into a peanut. She was thinking intently of herself. _WHY?_ She was thinking about video games, _she _hated _video games._

Then all the others were staring at Ryou—he looked blank, he was just staring into space. "Told you, you were gonna use it on him." Kaye said. Then Rye felt the peanut lift from her brain.

"_WHY _were you thinking of video games? We're supposed to be training!" Rye didn't want to bring up the Ryou was also thinking of her…

"Then if we were supposed to be training, why were _you_ thinking so much of how you _hate_ video games?" Ryou asked.

"That is mind link, Rye. I think I need to further explain this." Aina said. "Let's say Kaye is a future seer." She said, looking at Kaye. "And then you use mind link on Kaye while she's using her power, you can see the future as well, as long as you continue to do the mind link." She said in a matter of fact tone. Rye liked this power, she could invade other people's minds! But she took note not to use it on peanut brain. Rye seemed to be calmer, she didn't know why. She looked around the arena, peanut brain was missing. She looked harder, still, she couldn't find him. Then suddenly, he appeared right infront of Rye, about 1 foot away from her.

"Looking for me?" He asked with a smug look on his face.

"Don't-ever-do-that-_again!_" Rye shouted at his face. Ryou just smirked and walked away. Aina didn't explain this power any further, it was invisibility. They used the remaining hours to try to master the powers they've learned so far. They all learned that when Nina's about to use her Fractal Shard Burst, it's better to hide behind a boulder. Luckily, Ryou was getting bored of using his Telepathic Suggestion, so nobody ended up dancing their hearts out this morning. Kaye discovered that she had Telekinesis, she could move things with her mind without touching them, she nearly made Rye fall on Ryou. Rye was practicing her Necro Vision on the practice targets Aina had put out. Fine also found another amusing power. She had the ability to exist as a soul and enter other people's bodies. Aina called this _Soul Absorption._ Fine had a lot of fun with this, she invaded Rye's body, causing Rye to kiss Ryou directly on the lips. Rye nearly used her Fire element on Fine for this. But she got her revenge when Fine got scolded by Darah. She said powers were to be used to help people, not make romance.

They ate lunch at 1pm. Even though they were starving, they didn't eat like hungry cheetahs anymore, they were too tired to eat. But that didn't keep them from devouring every single slice of pizza they could reach. They finished eating at around 2pm already. Dumbledore told them they could rest until 3pm before they head for the library. They decided instead of heading back to their rooms, they could hang out in the sitting room instead. Rye, Nina and Kaye sat on the floor surrounding the television, arguing whether they should watch _Glee_ or _10 Things I hate About You_ on Velvet. They eventually went with Glee.

Fine was sitting on the sofa, trying her best to glue herself to Ryou. Ryou, on the other hand, took sudden interest in the humungous dictionary on the table, trying _his_ best to ignore Fine. Three pm came and Dumbledore entered the sitting room.

"Come with me, children." He said, they all stood up and walked towards Dumbledore. "We shall do some research in the library today."

"Wait," Rye interrupted, "we're supposed to be saving the world, and you want us to do _school work?_"

Dumbledore chuckled.

"Ah, yes, the world indeed needs your saving, but you need all the knowledge you can get," he paused, "for example, do you even know where Sasha is located?" They didn't answer. Dumbledore got them there. "Do you know _how_ to get there?" Still, no answer.

"All right, all right we get it, let's just head to the library or something." Rye said, irritated now that Dumbledore was practically rubbing in their faces that they didn't have a lead on where Sasha was.


	8. Chapter 8 Why no hug from you?

The five somehow expected the library to look like some dusty creaking place with cobwebs hanging. They didn't expect it to look like some high tech research facility with computers and all. Dumbledore left them without an explanation.

"Great," Said Fine. "He left us here to research, but he didn't tell us what to look for at all!" She sat down on the carpeted corner, grabbed a book, and read, if you call staring at pictures reading.

Ryou had a feeling that they needed to read all they could. Each one of them grabbed a random book and read, even if they hardly understood a thing.

Nina was intent on browsing some book that was like, _How to Understand Your Powers…for dummies. _

"Oh, so we have to battle maniacs to achieve higher levels of our power?" Said Nina, not wanting to go through things like the test. But they knew they had to. They knew better than to hesitate, they had to help. They wanted to.

Rye and Kaye scanned bookshelves for books about battle strategies and the demon-like enemies they would be fighting.

"Hey guys…This book says whenever we use our powers too much, it weakens and we can't use it straight for a day, or they'll be gone for two." Said Kaye, as she came across a useful piece of information.

"And that's a rule there…Let's say I'm an exception. I've got negativity reversal, so, the rule doesn't really count for me." Declared Rye.

Nina and Kaye went on reading together as Rye was pacing in the library. She _saw_ something flash in her mind. She shrugged it off. Frances looked like she was looking for the most precious thing in the world, eyes wide and all. _Ah, there she goes again, our damsel-in-distress, looking for Prince Peanut to sweep her off her feet…Nah, that doesn't exist…Even if dragons do. _

Ryou was practically wiping his hands on all the books, _reading, _as he put it. He was almost finished with all the shelves. His hand came in contact with a book cover that was covered with swirls and lines, forming an intricate pattern. _Curiosity kills the cat, they say. The cat being me. _As he tried to open the book, his body dropped to the floor.

Rye's thoughts were disturbed by a loud thud by the last bookshelf. Ryou was unconscious, his blonde hair a mess, expression peaceful. _The idiot must've fallen asleep. _She tried waking him up, poking him here and there, slapping him and pouring a glass of water on his face. None of them worked. As much as she didn't want to admit, she was _worried_ about him just passing out like that. She tried to carry him, but he was just too heavy.

"Guys, guys," She called. None answered. "FRANCES!" She shrieked. Fine rushed to her side immediately. Her eyes widened at the unconscious boy.

"Help me, will ya!" Ordered Rye. She saw the others come to her too, helping them and calling Aina. _I wonder what the idiot saw that made him pass out like that…_

Kaye elbowed her.

"Look who was worried," Said Kaye, a triumphant smile on her face.

"You must have seen that before it happened, huh?" Kaye furrowed her brows at this one.

"No..I-I didn't see anything." She was supposed to see his future too, since he was one of them five.

"That's…odd. Plus, well…If that happened to you, of course I'd freak out!" Said Rye. Kaye remained unfazed.

"Yeah, yeah." She said, closing their conversation.

They followed Darah and Aina to the infirmary.

"Do you know what happened to him?" Asked Aina.

"N-no. I mean he was like, lying on the floor, totally unconscious and…" Rye stammered.

Rye and Ryou never got along but they decided that she was telling the truth.

By the time Ryou woke up, it was already sunset. He was on a white bed and it smelled like medicine in there. _Probably the infirmary. _He got up, as he did, he was pushed back to the bed and his shirt was getting wet. Fine pounce on him like tiger in the wild, crying tears of joys as she hugs him. He pushes her away.

Frances looked totally satisfied. _She practically scared the hell out of her Prince Charming in a cave_. Thought Rye. Ryou just had a mortified expression on his face.

"Why do I get a hug from her, and none from you?" Asked Ryou. Everyone expected Rye to hug him. She slapped him instead. _Not even that would affect his ego._

"Okay, now you're awake," Began Rye, "We're gonna be leaving tomorrow, and we've got to train. There was nothing really wrong with you…According to Aina, so you can train too. But…What did happen to you?" Asked Rye.

"I…I don't remember." He said. It was as if there was a void in his mind, he couldn't remember anything after touching some books. He thought his memory failed him there, but he tried harder, nothing. He couldn't remember a thing. He was probably fine, physically, but mentally…there was something off. He'd tell them what he knew, tonight, for sure.

They made their way back to the arena, silently. Everyone seemed to be thinking about the thing's they'd face and how they'd fare along the way. The others didn't know where to go. They had limited time… And the clock is ticking.


	9. Chapter 9 As a Brother?

Training went as usual. Everyone was trying not to kill each other. Shards flew here and there, some of them dancing every now and then. Kittens, dogs and other animals appeared out of no where, ten Ryes were surrounding Ryou in a circle. Basically, this was their most epic practice yet—and their most tiring.

During dinner, none of them had the energy to talk. They all decided to get ready for bed early, it was still 8pm. They were to leave tomorrow on a quest after lunch, they had a big day ahead of them.

"So Rye…" Ryou said to break the silence in their room.

"Hm?" Rye replied, not even looking up from _Plants Vs. Zombies _on her iPod Touch.

"What do you think of me?" He asked awkwardly.

"Excuse me?" Rye asked, finally pausing her game. She looked at Ryou with one eyebrow raised.

"You know what I mean…"  
Rye _did_ know what Ryou meant. She remembered her conversation with Nina and Kaye just hours ago. She wanted to say he was the worst person on earth and she couldn't believe she was stuck with him, but he looked at Ryou again. Her eyes met Ryou's… Those hazelnut brown eyes… And that hair, that perfectly blond hair…

"Hello?" Ryou said, breaking Rye from her 'trance'. "Gonna answer me any time now?"

"Uhm…I like you," She paused. "As a friend or brother…" She said nothing more and went back to her iTouch.

"Right…" Ryou said. "As a brother." Ryou said more to himself than to Rye.

They drifted off to sleep at 9:30.

They didn't need an alarm clock or Aina or Darah waking them up the following morning. Rye and Ryou sat in awkward silence, waiting for someone to come barging in and break the silence for them. They heard a knock on the door. Ryou told the person to come in, it was Darah. She was holding two bracelets that had a charm that looked like a pyramid.

"What are those?" Rye asked curiously.

"They're dream bracelets," Darah explained. "They're from Dumbledore."

They waited for an explanation, which didn't come. Darah saw the confused expressions on their faces and started explaining.

"You see, you wear these on your wrists—."

"Really? I didn't know that. I thought you wore them around your waist." Rye said sarcastically. Ryou laughed to himself.

"Then when you fall asleep at night," she continued like Rye hadn't interrupted her, "you can visit the dreams of the person who is wearing the exact same bracelet as you are."

They gave no reactions. Rye was hoping so hard peanut head won't get the same bracelet as her.

"And these are yours," she said handing out the bracelets to Rye and Ryou. Rye was mortified.

"Dumbledore had assigned these pairings, not me, okay? He said room mates should get along better." Darah said as she saw the mortified look on Rye's face.

"What about… Fine?" Ryou asked nervously. He hoped with all his heart she wouldn't visit him in his dreams.

"Oh, we made exemptions for her. She can visit Rye's and Kaye's dreams. So whenever you guys need to make conversation at night, Fine can be your messenger." She said.

_Oh great,_ Rye thought, _not only can cave man peanut head invade my dreams, fan girl can too._

Darah instructed them to wear their bracelets now and never to take them off.

"Oh and one more thing," she said before she exited their room, "you cannot trade bracelets. Those are specially designed and will only work for _you._" And she left them alone.

To her surprise, Ryou made no comment at all. In fact, he didn't even ask where Rye would be going when she left the room. Rye wasn't used to the silence. She headed for Nina and Kaye's room, she had already packed and therefore had nothing better to do. She sat down beside Nina on her bed.

"You got your torture device?" Rye asked, indicating the dream bracelet.

"I think it'll be fun, actually." Kaye said. She was busy stuffing all the Manga she could in her backpack.

"Not if you have _Ryou,_" she shuddered, "and Fine invading your dreams every single night." She almost broke Nina's DS, Nina, cautious as she is, took her DS from Rye and put it in her backpack.

"I really think you should give the guy a chance, Rye." Nina said.

"Yeah, he is _kind of_ cute." Kaye said blushing.

Rye just stared at them both, she couldn't believe what she was hearing! Those two actually like an obnoxious, peanut headed, handsome, cute-. _UGH. Snap out of it! You are _NOT _gonna fall in love with him! _She thought to herself, slapping herself in the process. Nina and Kaye just looked awkwardly at her.

They went down to the dining room and ate lunch. This would be the last time they'd eat lunch here… It would be days, maybe even weeks before they could come back, will they _even _come back? What if they didn't succeed? Darah had mentioned they weren't the first ones to try, that others had tried before them but failed. What if they end up like them? They wouldn't be able to see their family again. She couldn't help but shed a tear. Ryou patted Rye on the back. This caught her by surprise. Kaye and Nina were watching them intently. Rye slapped Ryou's hand and he stopped patting her. They went to the sitting room together. Darah and Aina would be teleporting them to the train station from there. Then, they were on their own. Dumbledore had given them a lot of cash for transportation and food. There was a lot of hugging going on in the sitting room. Though they were only there for three days, they grew so attached to Darah and Aina, even though they almost killed them in training, and Dumbledore, they felt so at home here. They felt like this would be the last time they'd see each other.

"All right," Aina said, her eyes were red. "Gather round in a circle and hold hands." They did as they were told, Aina joined the circle. They said goodbye to Dumbledore for the last time, and then their surroundings shifted, everything turned blurry, Rye unconsciously held tighter to Ryou's hand. And then they were at the train station.


	10. Chapter 10 on board at last

_Brother, huh?_ Recalled Ryou, as he felt Rye's grip on his hand. _Sure, I'd like her to hold my hand…but maybe…not like this._ Kaye was discreetly invading his mind. _Can that girl get any denser? We've dropped hints, so many hints! What did she tell him now that made him sound so…depressed? _Nina also noticed Ryou's silence. _Ah…The guy mind. How it works, I will never know. _

As they boarded the train, they scrambled to their rooms as if it were a race.

"I got this one!" Screamed the girls like little children devouring cake. Kaye was with Nina, the two were inseparable since they met, knowing each other like they knew themselves. Fine got the luxury of a room alone again, much to Rye's dismay. Ryou looked defeated. Guess he'll have to stay with the one with the biggest room. There was still Fine and Rye. He didn't want to stay with Fine, for obvious reasons. Rye, then. He opened the door to her room, putting his things there. Rye raised an eyebrow.

"Huh?" She asked, knowing that he'd probably be her roommate again.

"Hey…" He began, his voice lower than usual, he even sounded meek. "Like siblings, remember..? Brother." Ryou tried keeping sadness out of his voice, and failing miserably.

Rye felt guilt flood into her. She tried to shrug it off, but she couldn't. She just nodded.

An awkward silence filled the room. These days, it was nothing but awkward between the two. They didn't make eye-contact. It was like there was something they knew, but they chose to ignore it.

The train ride was silent, Rye bonding with her iPod, Nina playing with her DS, Kaye reading Manga, Fine was busy fiddling with her Samsung Corby and Ryou amusing himself with his PSP. Among the five, he was the one who wanted to be alone most of the time. It didn't help when Fine kept on trying to sit beside him, he'd make up an excuse.

The day was coming to an end, and they were drawing closer to their destination. The day passed in a blur and silence, with occasional chats and conversations, but nothing interesting. Ryou and Rye weren't really speaking to each other, even if they shared rooms.

As they were about to sleep, Ryou looked tense.

"Is there something we don't know?" Asked Rye, emphasizing the word 'we', finally making eye contact. As they looked into each other's eyes, they looked like there was something unspoken between them. Rye looked away. Nina, Kaye and Fine's heads snapped up, giving Ryou an expression telling him to go on.

"Look, okay. Judging by the look on your face this is important." Said Nina, itching to go to bed.

"It better be, come on, were sleepy, if you don't see that." Said Kaye.

They went to Rye's room, because Ryou said he had something all of them needed to know.

"Rye, I need your help. Your powers..you know," He began. Rye looked like she didn't care, but of course she was going to help him.

"Uh..The..Mind link thing, right?..And I thought I'd be able to stay out of your head."

Rye looked annoyed.

"Please," He pleaded. "Just this once."

She couldn't resist. There was just something about him that was so…safe. Or…whatever.

They gathered around the table in their room, like executives working on a million-dollar deal. Ryou got serious and started.

"So Dumbledore made us research for stuff back in the library…And as I was touching books, my mind was practically absorbing everything in it. Sounds crazy, I know, but it was effortless," He paused. "Then there was this book…On the last shelf…Hidden… It had maps and history stuff…Telling us to go look for some place called Elantya."

"Mind telling us how we do so, genius?" Said Rye. Great. _So much for peanut brain having a brain a size of a peanut…and he knows that? _

"There's a catch. A city guards Elantya, with a force that bans adults from getting in. We could make it until there, but to actually get to Elantya itself...We'd need gems. Five of them…we'd find, but the sixth..." He trailed off. "There's something odd about the sixth. It said that we couldn't get it." He looked pained as he said so.

"That's just great. At least we know something." Chirped Nina.

They couldn't blame him. They didn't know that piece of information in the first place anyway.

"About the sixth one…Does it have something to do with you passing out?" Proposed Kaye.

"I don't really know," Admitted Ryou. "But..I can't put a finger on it…"

Rye was quiet for the time being. They wondered if she was already asleep, but her eyes were open, staring at her hands as if they held the secrets of the universe.

"Rye…Rye? You there?" Said Kaye.

"Yeah, yeah…Just thinking."

"Ryou, do you need anything?" Asked Fine. He shook his head.

Rye wouldn't tell anyone that she could go through Ryou's thoughts anywhere, anytime.

After their discussion, Rye was exhausted. It took a lot of energy to use her power, much more share the huge chunk of information Ryou was able to gather.

Everyone else headed back to their rooms, probably thinking or devising plans. Frances left with one last glance at Ryou, looking at him as if he was her long lost puppy.

The two were alone again in the room. Both needed to rest. Rye couldn't reach for her bag on the top shelf. Ryou got it for her, she just muttered her thanks. _After being so cold towards him…He'd still help me. _That was Rye's last thought before she drifted to sleep.


	11. Chapter 11 the dream

Rye was having pleasant dreams. She was in the park, strolling with her childhood friend, Reynold. Reynold had jet black hair and gorgeous eyes. They were sitting on a park bench, chatting and laughing. Just then, Rye saw some movement near the bushes. She could've sworn she saw hazelnut brown eyes. She stood up form the bench and walked over to the bushes. Ryou was spying on them. Rye got furious, she slapped Ryou so hard that Ryou said it even hurt if it were in a dream.

"If you wanna avoid being slapped by dream Rye," Rye said, you could probably see smoke coming out of her ears. "try not spying on my dreams. These bracelets are for emergency meetings only, _remember?_"

"It _IS_ an emergency!" Ryou said. When he stood up, Rye was a lot smaller than him, Rye felt helpless.

"What?" Was all she could come up with. Ryou looked defeated. Nothing had really happened that was so important he had to go here. His lips were quivering. Ryou might be a year older than her, but Rye felt she was more responsible.

"Hello? Gonna give me an answer any time now?" She asked after a minute's worth of silence… Ryou had nothing… Instead, he leaned down and kissed Rye on the lips. He then turned and went back to his own dream. Rye stood there, shocked at just what happened. She couldn't believe it, but she liked it, but she hated Ryou for doing it. Then again, Kaye was right, Ryou _is_ cute… but he invaded her space! Rye's mind was going nuts. She didn't know if she should stay mad at Ryou or what… in the end, she went with just acting like nothing happened, and ignore Ryou the rest of the day tomorrow…

Rye woke up the next morning earlier than Ryou. She looked at Ryou in bed, wanting to punch him in the face. She got ready and packed her things. Ryou woke up just as she closed her backpack.

"Morning…" Ryou said. Rye said nothing, instead, she walked out and decided to go to Kaye and Nina… She just had to tell them.

She went in Kaye and Nina's room and sat down on Nina's bed again. Nina quickly hid her DS, in case Rye got frustrated again. But Rye looked far from disappointed, she looked like she was confused.

"What's up?" Nina asked.

Rye buried her head in her hands and shouted.

"Hey…" Kaye said as she sat down at Nina's bed too. "You can tell us anything, you know?"

Rye removed her hands and sighed. "Roo is ee.." was what they understood when Rye spoke.

"You gotta speak louder you know…" Nina said, leaning in closer to hear what Rye would say next.

"RYOU KISSED ME!" Rye shouted. Nina was taken aback, she was expecting another whisper, she got a shout out… She rubbed her ears frantically.

Kaye on the other hand looked smug and satisfied.

"You liked it didn't you?" Kaye asked, still a smug look on her face.

"Shut up." Rye said, she couldn't face the fact that Kaye was right… She _did _like it.

"When did it happen?" Nina asked, still rubbing her ears. She sat back a little further this time, incase Rye would shout again.  
"In my dream…" Rye said. Both of them looked confused. Rye started explaining what happened in her dream – trying her best to leave out the fact that she enjoyed it. Kaye even looked smugger than she did a while ago. Rye was getting annoyed by that look, but she didn't want to have another outburst.

Rye ate breakfast in Kaye and Nina's room. She didn't want to be left alone in a room with Ryou for more than five seconds. Ryou, on the other hand was regretting the move he'd made last night. Now that he thought about it, that move was too sudden. Rye did only consider him as brother, and there he was, kissing her on the lips. Ryou made a mental note to himself to jump into a vat of toxic waste when this would be all over. _Rye would've agreed to that…_He thought.

"Knock knock…" Fine said as she knocked on the door to Nina and Kaye's room.

"Hey, Fine…" Rye said. She feels guilty whenever she sees Fine. Rye wanted to tell her the truth, that Ryou had no interest in her, but she didn't want to break her heart. Fine sat down on the floor beside Rye. Rye hadn't really labeled her as her close friend, so she felt kind of awkward sitting next to her so close.

"I heard what happened…" Fine said. Rye knew what was coming, Fine was gonna cry on her shoulder and blame her for Ryou not wanting her as his girlfriend… But she was wrong.  
"It's okay really…" She continued. "I mean, you two do make a _better_ couple." She said and smiled.

"WE'RE NOT TOGETHER!" Rye blurted out. Why was everyone thinking that they were going out? Fine shook her head pitifully.

"You're lucky you know…" She said as she stood up. "Dating an older guy… a cute one not to mention it…" She said no more and left the room. Rye continued eating her breakfast in silence. The guy in the weird uniform told them they'd be arriving soon. Rye got up to get her bag from their room. But as she entered, she found no such bag, and even Ryou was gone. She walked through all the compartments on the train, looking left and right for any signs of Ryou. The train came to an abrupt halt. They all headed for the exit. Rye found Ryou holding her bag just near the bench at the station. Ryou handed her bag over and Rye muttered a thanks. Kaye had the same smug look on her face.

"All right," Rye said as they gathered around far from the crowd. "What are we gonna do now?"

"Look for the rubies." Ryou answered. Rye hoped so much that Ryou wouldn't be the one who would answer all her questions.

"Yeah, but where are we gonna go look for them?" Nina asked as she noticed that Rye wasn't gonna talk yet.

"I think we should look for a place to stay first," Fine suggested. Rye couldn't believe her ears. Maybe Fine _was_ over Ryou. When she still had a crush on him, she could barely talk when he was there. "Then we could sort it all out there. You know, just to make sure we have a place to stay tonight?" She suggested meekly.

"That doesn't sound like a bad idea, actually." Ryou said. Usually, Fine would blush that Ryou had commended him, but now, she merely smiled and looked at Rye. _She _was in _her_ position now. They gathered around the map located at the center of the station, looking for a decent hotel they could stay at.

"I see a pretty decent one up there," Ryou indicated a building like picture at the top of the map. "But I can't really see what street's it on. Rye…?" He looked at Rye hopefully. She knew what this meant… Rye stepped forward and Ryou grabbed hold of her waist and lifted her up. Rye clenched her teeth together. She was really missing the obnoxious and irritating Ryou right now. Rye gave them a thumbs up to signal them she got it.

"Located on maple street… Just beside Wal-mart." She said as Ryou let go of her. They called for a cab, Fine beat Rye to the front seat. Rye desperately wanted to get as far away as she can from Ryou, so as Nina was about to enter the cab, she beat her to it. In the end, she was stuck sitting between Kaye and Nina. But it was better than being squished to Ryou. _Living in a cave would be better than being squished to Ryou…_ She thought.

They paid the taxi driver 37 dollars and got off on Maple Street. They entered a hotel called _Chateau Cu Lasa._

_Hm… weird name for a hotel._ Rye thought. But as they entered, they were amazed by what they saw. Golden chandeliers hung from the ceiling, furniture that looked like it belonged to royalty surrounded the entrance area. They all slowly approached the hotel clerk.

"Uhm, a room for 5 please?" Kaye said, not so sure what they were supposed to say to get a room at this kind of hotel.

"How many nights?" The clerk asked.

"Uhm, just one."

The clerk inputted something in the computer and handed them a key that had the number 1015 on it.

"11th floor." The clerk answered their unasked question.

They unlocked the door to room 1015, Kaye, Nina, and Fine came running straight in. Before Rye could realize what they were doing, she was too late. She'd end up with peanut brain again. Rye went to Kaye and Nina's room after dropping her bag off in their room… Leaving a very lonely Ryou behind. Just as Rye left their room, Fine took her place. She sat at the foot of Ryou's bed. Ryou was about to ask her politely to go out, until she started talking.

"Look…" she began. Ryou raised an eyebrow. _Wasn't this the girl who practically slobbered over me in the infirmary?_ Ryou thought. "I'm really sorry for how I'd been acting the previous days…" Ryou said nothing. He couldn't think about anything to say. He wanted to say it was all right, but it just seemed so awkward, he didn't know why.

"We all know you like Rye," she said after a moment's pause, "Rye knows it too, _obviously, _considering what you did in her dream last-."

"She _told_ you guys that?" Ryou asked, exasperated.

"Well, she told Nina and Kaye, I eavesdropped." Fine admitted… She fiddled with her thumbs before continuing. "I just know she likes you back, but trust me," Ryou looked pleased, "she's never, I mean _never_ going to go out with you if you keep doing that. The way she reacted at Nina and Kaye's room a while ago when she told them about it—I could really tell she liked it even if she didn't say so herself." She paused. Ryou's smile immediately turned upside down. She knew for himself that he _did_ move too fast.

"Just take it slow and easy," Fine said again. "And you just might not know what would happen." She gave him a wink and walked out of the room, leaving Ryou lost in his own thoughts.


	12. Chapter 12 Alysian

…_And you just might not know what would happen…_ Those words lingered on Ryou's ears. _What would happen? It's not like she'll ever give me a chance…Wait! She might? Nah. Never. She probably hates me…But Fine said she liked it…Girls. Crazy mood swings. _Thought Ryou.

**Rye was on the sofa, looking at the wonderful view. But the view was hardly what she concentrated on. ****_Ryou's hardly the irritating peanut head I once knew, _****Thought Rye.**

**_He's got most of the info now, then next he just pops up in moments you don't want people to disturb! Big brother much? Impossible! Brothers aren't supposed to go kissy-kissy on you…And…You're not supposed to like brother's kisses…right? _****She gulped and paled. ****_What's up with me now?_**

**Meanwhile, Fine, Kaye and Nina were putting together pieces of information they've collected. Ryou said that the first gem was reddish-orange, the second blue, third brown, fourth yellow, fifth grey and the sixth unknown. **

**"Let's focus on the first one." Said Fine.**

**"So the first must be…" Declared Kaye.**

**"The crystal representing Fire." Said the three together. **

**Rye and Ryou entered the room at the same time, but not together, using different doors.**

**"Now that we do know it represents my element…Where do we find it?" Asked Rye.**

**No one answered. Kaye's eyes were closed. A magical screen popped up in front of them.**

**"Cool." Said Nina.**

**"This thing shows where we'll find the first crystal. Until we get our hands on it, there'll be no clue on the second." Kaye explained. **

**The screen showed them a desert filled with mountains. That was the location of the Fire crystal.**

**"We're supposed to find it there?" Asked Rye. Obviously they should. Rye always forgot to think before speaking. "For God's sake, we're digging? We don't even have shovels!" Fine felt forgotten and underestimated. **

**"Hello!" Shouted Fine, her voice clear. "Forgotten about me? Element's Earth, remember?" **

**"Oh…" Was all Rye managed to say. **

**"Moving on," Said Kaye. "Place is called 'Alysian'. First of all, don't think we'll make it back unscathed…If we're coming back. Check this out." **

**The screen began to show slimy-looking hybrids roaming around the area. **

**"Must be Sasha's minions…" Said Ryou.**

**"Exactly."**

**Kaye showed them a zoomed-in picture of the Fire crystal. It looked more precious than any other jewel in the world. The Fire crystal had more details than the shiniest diamond, and it sparkled on any angle. Judging buy its looks, no doubt Sasha would want this, not as a pendant or addition to a charm bracelet, but for power. The power-hungry queen would never be satisfied. The five teens memorized the photo, taking in each and every part. **

**They were back to discussing Alysian and the Fire crystal. **

**"Where exactly is Alysian?" Asked Rye.**

**"It is not on most maps, but it does say that it is a small country in the middle of Germany and France." Answered Kaye.**

**"Where the hell are those places?" Asked Rye.**

**Ryou smirked. "Someone's not listening in class, eh?"**

**"I don't care. I pass with flying colors." Countered Rye.**

**"Wait. But I thought Switzerland was in between Germany and France?" Asked Ryou. **

**"Exactly." Answered Kaye.**

**"So Switzerland is Alysian?" Asked Nina, confused.**

**"Nope. If normal people get to the border of Alysian, they are simply transported to the next one, being Switzerland. And they won't even remember it." Kaye explained.**

**"Uhh…so…how do we get inside?" Worried Fine.**

**"Don't worry. We've got powers. We're immediately granted entry." Kaye answered.**

**"So, what else do you know about Alysian from Ryou's memories, Kaye?" Asked Nina.**

**"It's sad, actually. The main city , Ecouter, used to protect it with wards, repelling all demonic power. But you know Sasha…"**

**After their discussion, they headed back to the rooms and organized their things. They'd be leaving tomorrow, heading to Alysian. Fine went with Kaye and Nina for a little chat, leaving Ryou and Rye alone again. **

**As all of them were asleep, Ryou was still awake. He stared at Rye, peacefully sleeping. She looked like an angel while she slept. Slowly, he got out of his bed, inching closer to her…Something in him went off, like an alarm. ****_TAKE IT EASY AND SLOW. EASY AND SLOW. _****Frustrated, he went back to bed and thought as he fell asleep. **


	13. Chapter 13 Help from a Friend

Rye was at her old school, sitting on her usual seat beside Trish. It was math, their _favorite_ subject… to sleep through. Professor Cecialla was teaching them about pi and stuff like that… _pie… gah. They should really-._ But her thoughts were cut short. Sitting in front of her now, was the familiar, blond haired boy. She leaned forward and hit him hard on the back of the head.

"Ow!" He whispered rather loudly.

"What are you doing here?" Rye asked, exasperated as usual.

"Shh!" Professor Cecialla said without removing her eyes from the white board.

"I came to apologize." He said simply.

"Why do you seem like you pop up in the most unnecessary times?" Rye asked, she had a triumphant look on her face. Peanut brain was actually apologizing to her! She heard someone cough from behind. She turned around and saw Fine. She would've gone mad if Fine were still her usual fan girl self, but since she's over Ryou, she was now madder at Peanut Head for being here again. Fine smirked harder and harder. _Okay, what is it with these people and smirking?_

"UGH!" Rye said rather loudly. Trish turned to look at Rye, then she eyed the classmates she never saw before. The look on her face would be so epic, if Professor Cecialla wouldn't have given her detention for complaining rather loudly in class.

"Thanks a lot." She muttered to Ryou as Professor handed her the detention slip.

"Ah, the usual trouble maker." Ryou said, looking satisfied.

Rye playfully stuck her tongue out at Ryou. Behind her, Fine winked at Ryou, Ryou mouthed a big thank you to her.

_Slow and easy…_Ryou thought to himself. Though getting your crush in detention didn't seem romantic and something to be thankful of, even in a dream.

Rye and Ryou woke up the next morning in a perfectly good mood, though no words were said other than the occasional 'good morning.' They joined Kaye, Nina and Fine at the breakfast table. They all seemed smugger. Fine must have told them last night…

"Okay," Nina said. "We have to discuss transportation… We really need to get to Alysian fast." She explained. They thought and thought. Once or twice, Rye and Ryou's eyes met, but they quickly averted their eyes.

"I JUST THOUGHT ABOUT SOMETHING!" Rye quickly blurted out, causing Kaye to jump out of her seat due to the sudden outburst. "My friend from school," she began. "Her father owns like this private jet. If we can just convince her-."

"PERFECT!" Kaye said, recovering her balance, not even allowing Rye to finish explaining.

"Fine, can I borrow your phone?" Fine handed her Samsung Corby to Rye. Rye inputted her friend's number and almost instantly, someone on the other end answered.

"Hey, Trish!" They all stared at Rye. They wanted to hear the whole conversation on loud speaker, but thought better not to disturb her while she's chatting away…

"Yeah listen, we need some quick transpo, if you know what I mean." She paused. "Really? That's great! AWESOME! THANKS A LOT TRISH! Yeah, we're in-." She stopped and looked at the four. "Where are we exactly?" she asked in a whispered tone.

"Chateau Cu Lasa in Monsea." Kaye said, she was good in these sort of things.

"—Chateau Cu Lasa in Monsea." Rye repeated to Trish. "Kay Thanks a lot Trish, I owe you one! Bye!" She hung up and handed the phone back to Fine.

"Well?" The four asked in unison.

"The jet will be here by lunch!" Rye exclaimed as she jumped up and down. The others joined in the jumping, except Ryou. He figured they'll be there for a few days, and he's got the strangest feeling there aren't five star hotels in Alysian…

"Hey," Rye said, "why do you look so serious?"

Ryou looked up, Rye was actually _talking _to him. And it wasn't to say good morning! She was asking what was wrong, sort of…

"Well," Ryou straightened up. "There aren't really 5-star hotels in Alysian, as you can see." He said pointing at the map.

"You're right…" Kaye said. "We'll need some gear."

They all planned and agreed that they should buy 3 tents, (Rye argued with this one, why was everyone so stuck up with the number 3?) 5 sleeping bags and a _lot_ of food. Ryou and Kaye would be the ones to buy them in a near by store just down the street.

"Why do you look like you just accomplished something diabolical?" Ryou asked Kaye as they walked in to the camping store. Kaye had her usual smug look on her face. Kaye shook her head, still smirking and went over to pick out tents. Ryou stared at her for a moment, _girls… I guess I never will understand how their minds work._

They spent only about 50 dollars on supplies and 50 on food. They still had tons of cash left. Rye was surprised they could still fit their things in their bags, considering all the clothes, sleeping bags, tents, food, their gadgets and books.

They went to the rooftop of the hotel at exactly 11:55. Minutes later, they saw a jet in the sky. It landed feet away from them, the door opened and a curly haired girl emerged out of the jet. She ran at Rye and they hugged each other, jumping, squealing, like they've never seen each other for years. Then the girl finally took note of the presence of four other human beings there… They all introduced themselves and she introduced herself as Trish, Rye's classmate for 3 years now.

For some reason, they expected the jet to be cramped up and look like for military use on the inside, they hadn't expected a trailer home like inside that looked cozier than their room in the five star hotel. Rye and Trish took the time to catch up with each other. Kaye was deeply absorbed in her Manga, Nina poking furiously at her DS, Fine… taking pictures of herself with the things in the jet and Ryou, simply staring out of the window, lost in his own thoughts.

The ride was quicker than they expected. Only an hour has passed and Trish told them to gather around.

"Okay so you guys are going to Switzerland right?" She began, they nodded. "Well you see, the problem is…" They all looked tense… '_the problem is'_ really isn't what they wanted to hear right now. "We have no permission to land a private jet in Switzerland, so…" She took three… _three. _Rye thought, parachutes from the cubby beside her and handed one to Fine, one for Kaye and Nina and one for Rye and Ryou. Rye couldn't help but feel that one of them is using soul absorption for this… She then explained to them how to open the parachute and how to put it on. Minutes later they were all strapped up, Kaye strapped up in front of Nina and Rye strapped up in front of Ryou. Fine couldn't help but laugh at how ridiculous her friends look like right now.

"All right," Trish said as she approached the door. "When I open the door, you guys jump out quickly okay? Remember what I told you, pull at the string _once, _only _once._" They all nodded to show they understood.

"All right, good luck guys!" She shouted as she opened the door, they all immediately jumped out of the jet, into the cold, open sky.

Rye was terribly afraid of heights, she held hard to Ryou's hand. Ryou's free hand quickly made its way to the string and pulled it. They were pulled back up for a second or two, then, they slowly fell until their feet touched the ground.

Rye looked relieved to be back on solid land again. Kaye, Nina and Fine on the other hand looked as if that was the best time of their lives. They even considered doing it again for the next crystals they would be getting…

"Afraid of heights, huh?" Ryou asked as he removed the parachute from the both of them. He had a smirk plastered to his face.

"Shut up…" Rye muttered, she had a faint smile on her face. She missed the old peanut brain, and there he is.

Kaye elbowed Nina and Fine, she gestured them to look at Rye and Ryou. They couldn't help but smile… a lot.

"So, how do we get to Atlanta again?" Kaye asked as they walked out of the meadow and onto the pavement.

"_Alysian,_ Kaye. Not Atlanta." Fine corrected.

"Well, it seems like we need to go hiking up some pretty tall mountains…" Ryou said disappointedly, looking up from the map. "And then go down the other end…" He paused. "And we should be there." He folded the map up again.

"Let's go get some lunch first… I'm starving." Nina said. They all agreed and headed for the nearest fast food restaurant.


	14. Chapter 14 Mush and Food

Cheesecake House wasn't half bad. It had great lighting, air-conditioning and cozy-looking seats. The aroma of food was all over the place.

"We got dibs on the table for three!" Shouted Kaye, Nina and Fine.

The only seating left was for two.

"Guess we'll have to sit here then." Said Ryou as he smirked. Rye rolled her eyes, but there was this undeniable smile on their faces, as if they won the lottery.

Rye and Ryou were led to a booth at the far end of the restaurant, secluded from the rest. There was a rose on their table, Ryou picked it up and started hitting Rye's face.

"Stop it," She said playfully. There was a hint of pink on her cheeks.

"Only if you do _something _for me…" He trailed off.

"You wish."

"Yeah, I do." He sounded earnest here, his voice warm and pretty love struck for a fourteen year old. She cocked her head to the side and laughed, giving him a lopsided grin.

"Okay, whatever." She said, waiving off the topic.

Kaye and Nina ordered chicken and a sandwich, Fine just had a salad.

"We're probably walking a long way, and you're just having that?" Exclaimed Nina.

"Not my fault that I don't feel like assassinating other living things, you know." Countered Fine.

"Oh, vegetarian, I see. Damn it, I'm jealous." Said Kaye with a slightly sad expression.

"Whatever, whatever. I don't care if you tell me I eat like a pig, but I'm still getting dessert."

"Me too." Added Kaye.

"As if I could ever resist." Fine said as she was giving in.

Rye and Ryou were torn apart from the pasta and the Fish n' Chips.

"You know," Ryou suggested, "You could have the pasta, then I'll have the fish."

"Okay then." Rye agreed.

As the waitress came back with their orders, they talked about life before this mission.

He was busy interrogating Rye while waiting.

"Grade?" He started.

"Ninth."

"Favorite bands?"

"All Time Low & Paramore."

"Song?"

"DO YOU NEED TO KNOW EVERYTHING?" Asked Rye in a half whisper-shout.

"Yep, knowing that you're stuck with me and we're probably with each other…in sickness and… in death." He remained unfazed.

"It doesn't get you anything, you know."

"It doesn't hurt to know."

"Yeah, yeah. I'm eating."

Meanwhile, in Kaye's table…

"I don't hear any shouting, you know!" She said gleefully. Fine and Nina's faces lit up.

"She's met her match…" Said Fine.

"I believe she has." Agreed Nina.

They continued chatting about music, books and other random things that sparked interest.

"Hey." Said Ryou.

"Mhm?"

"I want some of that."

"No."

"Yes."

"No."

"Yes."

He looked at her directly with those mesmerizing honey-brown eyes of his, getting lost in the moment. _Self-control…self-control…I can't take it! Fine, I'll peek. _She thought, finally looking at his eyes. She never really noticed how deep they were, how the color blended beautifully together. _And oh, she couldn't look back. She wouldn't dare try._

Rye was the first one to recover. She felt her cheeks heat up, turning red.

"Fine, here, have some." She said as she put up her fork with pasta. She meant to put it on his plate. To her surprise, _her_ fork was in his mouth. She used that fork!

"Mmm…" He said.

"Idiot!" She explained as she tried to glare at him, she couldn't bring herself to do so. She's done it so many times now, why did it become a challenge? She ended up laughing instead.

"Let me have some of that now!" Said Rye.

"Of course," He smirked. "It's only fair…"

She opened her mouth to ask him what he meant. And yes, there goes _his_ fork into her mouth. It automatically closed. As she realized what he did, she was supposed to complain…but the food tasted so good that she shut up.

"Like it?" He said, leaning in _dangerously_ closer. She slapped and pinched him, much to his dismay.

After paying for their food, they once again set out on foot for a place to stay…

"Look! Look! Over there!" Exclaimed Kaye.

"Jeez, Kaye…I won't be surprised if the whole neighborhood wakes…" Said Nina.

"I don't care."

"You don't look like you do."

They checked into the three remaining rooms. Yeah, you know who's with whom.

Nina was bored of playing Lux-Pain on her DS. _So…Water…I can control it…_

She turned the faucet on in their bathroom, commanding it to take different shapes.

She had made her own water kingdom until…

"I LEFT TWO OF MY BOOKS AT THE FREAKING HOTEL!" Shrieked Kaye.

"SHUT UP AND DON'T PESTER ANYONE ABOUT IT!" Screamed Nina, forgetting about the water. She was drenched and their bathroom looked like it went through Hurricane Katrina.

"Why is there water coming from the bathroom?"

"Nothing, nothing. None of your business. Now see you later!"

_Great. The bathroom's flooded. Thank God for teleportation. _

Nina teleported to Fine's room.

"Fine! Could you help me?" Pleaded Nina.

"Where? What?" Asked Fine.

"You'll see."

As Fine entered Nina's bathroom, it was a wreck.

"I'm not helping."

"But-"

"I never agreed. But I do have a little gift for you." Said Fine as she handed Nina the mop.

"Ah, I see the cleaning service is here." _Meaning YOU. _ She left, leaving Nina to clean up on her own.


	15. Chapter 15 Ecouter

It was a cold, cold night. The five of them were all dreaming away. Rye decided to have some fun and visit peanut head's dream for a change.

They were at headquarters with Aina and Darah. It was their first night. The sight was pretty weird for Rye, on account of she can see herself there. It was like going back in time, she wondered why Ryou was having this sort of dream.

Rye found peanut head near the fireplace. She sneaked up behind him and hit the back of his head with a pencil… that was the only thing she could find. Ryou rubbed the back of his head frantically and turned around with a smirk on his face.

"Couldn't stand not being with me for a minute, huh?"

"Shut up," Rye said, sticking her tongue out. Ryou still looked triumphant.

While Rye and Ryou were having an animated discussion about the fire crystal, Kaye, Nina and Fine were having a meeting in Nina's dream.

"So how do you guys think Rye's supposed to get it?" Fine asked. They were at Nina's house. Or at least Nina's _dream_ house.

"Well," Nina began, she had a look on her face that spelled either _pity_ or _sorrow, _which wasn't good at all, "Ryou told me the other night, that only people with the Fire element would be able to go within 5 feet near it." She paused, Fine looked confused.

"Hadn't Ryou agreed just hours ago," she began, "that I'll be able to _help_ Ryou get the crystal?"

"That's the point, Ryou's obsession with Rye is getting the best of him. He doesn't want Rye to panic—."

"—until the last minute." Kaye continued for her.

"Wait, you said only people with the fire element could get within 5 feet of the crystal, right?" Fine asked, an idea popping into her mind. Kaye and Nina nodded. "Well, what if I don't really _need_ to get near the crystal to help Rye dig?" She looked back and forth between Nina and Kaye with a hopeful expression on her face. The smile quickly turned upside down when Nina gave her the news.

"Can't, the crystal's surrounded with some sort of enchant-."

"Would you like some chocolate éclairs ma'am?" Nina's servant asked. Nina closed her eyes and sighed.

"No, Calleigh, but thank you. We're kind of busy here." The servant left without another word.

"As I was saying, it's surrounded with enchantments. There's really no loop hole here. Rye has to do it."

They fell silent. They agreed to leave Rye a note in her dreams, Fine was to do it.

The next morning, they all agreed to start hiking up the mountains after lunch time. Rye looked unfazed by anything, so Fine got worried that she didn't get the note. After breakfast, Fine pulled away Rye from the others to have a little more privacy.

"Did you get the note I left you in your dream?" Rye looked confused, of course, she didn't even bother going back to her _own_ dream last night. She spent the whole night there, she had a blast. She just shook her head, Fine sighed. She started explaining everything they talked about last night, by the end, Rye looked completely mortified.

"Sorry we didn't tell you sooner…" Fine whispered.

"It's okay… really." But it didn't look okay.

_She_ had the whole responsibility on her shoulders! No one could help her dig through all of that sand!

"You told her?" Kaye asked Fine as they went back to the dining room, it was pretty obvious due to the look on Rye's face.

They went as planned, they started hiking at exactly 1:00pm, stopping only for five minute breaks and snacks. At around 9pm, they were already close by to the other side, but they decided it was too dark and all agreed to set up camp in a near by forest. Nina had set up the camp fire, after numerous tries because at times water would shoot out of her hands. Rye was setting up their tent near the fire. She felt at ease whenever she was near fire, she didn't care whether or not peanut brain would argue about being so close to fire.

Kaye was playing with her wind element near the Fire, Fine was eyeing her closely… She could feel something was about to go wrong. Just then, wind hit the fire infront of Kaye, causing the fire to move towards Rye's butt. She jumped due to the shock, she loved fire and all, but not _this_ much! Kaye was jumping up and down, shouting sorry repeatedly. Nina came running forward and extinguished the fire.

"I'm sooo sorry Rye!" Kaye exclaimed.

"It's nothing…" She said, "it's my fault I wanted to be so close to it anyway." Ryou muttered his agreement, Rye just glared at him. They had argued all the way from the foot of the mountain to here. After Fine had told her the news, Rye immediately slapped Ryou. Poor guy… didn't even know what hit him.

They agreed to take turns in keeping watch outside the tent while others slept.

Ryou, being the only guy, was first to take the shift. Rye was extremely glad about that, since she'd at least have an hour to the tent alone.

But not even one shift was completed when they were awakened by the sounds of attacks coming from outside the tents. They all emerged sleepily, into the sight of Ryou dueling with a… HALF EAGLE HALF HORSE? They immediately went to Ryou's aid, firing at the Hippogriff with all their might. Shards came flying from Nina's hand again, Rye, making clones of herself to distract the creature. Fine was summoning even stronger creatures to fight off the Hippogriff, Kaye was using all the energy she could get to make the hippogriff fly away.

"YOU JUST NEEDED TO BOW TO HIM IDIOT!" the ten Ryes shouted at Ryou through all the commotion.

"WHAT?" Ryou asked as he was dodging Nina's crystals.

"I SAID BOW. IF YOU WOULD'VE USED YOUR BRAIN, OH WAIT! YOU DON'T HAVE ONE!"

Ryou looked like he was gonna argue. But Nina cut them short.

"GUYS! IN DANGER HERE!"

And with all of them working together, the hippogriff lay on the ground, motionless. They remained silent while they were packing their things. They'd rather have a sleepless night than to risk being attacked by one of those again.

By 7 am, they have reached Alysian. Alysian wasn't one of those modern countries, they didn't have taxis, and it was burning hot there. They took one of those carriages to the city of Ecouter.

"Where's the crystal located again?" Nina asked as they got of the stinky carriage.

"In the middle of the desert…" Rye said, her face was hard to read. But they were pretty sure she felt like this was the end…

They walked and walked through the desert, under the hot, searing desert sun. They could've lost at least a pound or two due to all the perspiration… Then Ryou stopped in his tracks, causing the others to bump into each other.

"It's here." He said, pointing at the sand five feet away. Rye gulped and moved forward slowly.


	16. Chapter 16 the demon

Chapter Sixteen

_Walk…walk…walk…Come on, you're getting closer…_ She chanted to herself. The air was hot, the others were sweating droplets. They could only stare and cheer her on, knowing that they would only get hurt if they tried to get into the protected area.

The heat was more than intense; she was walking through invisible fire. It was a great idea that they put up a barrier, or else everyone walking through would end up as a pile of ashes. _Two feet down, three to go. _She urged herself to go on; never had she been so afraid.

A figure suddenly appeared in front of her, blocking the way. He looked familiar, blond hair…brown eyes…_RYOU? How the hell did he get here?_

The four were shocked, wasn't Ryou by their side. They turned around, revealing a very dumbfounded Ryou, gaping like a fish. They looked ahead of them, back and forth, and looked at the two Ryou's at the same time. The one with them seemed completely human…even if he didn't look like he was breathing. Kaye sensed that there was something off about the Ryou with Rye.

'Ryou' came closer to Rye, a soothing smile gracing his features. In a blur, she was pressed against the rock, cuts on her arms where blood was freely spilling out. 'Ryou' seemed to not notice. He kept hitting her and hitting, but she didn't have the will to fight back.

"RYE! RYE!" Screamed Kaye.

She didn't seem to hear her though; she was getting too weak that she might just crumple on the sand.

"Are you kidding me? Fight back!" Screamed Nina.

Fine was looking for a noticeable difference between the two. Physically…You could never tell. As she looked at his face, something struck her.

"Rye! His eyes are brown, not red!"

That was all it took to break her out of her trance.

Rye had carried a blade with her. As soon as she realized Fine was right, she raised the blade, slashing right at him. Black blood oozed from the demon's wounds. Not only did it look hideous, it smelled awful too. She once read that there was a place in a man's spine, if you stick a blade to it, would severe both his heart and spine. She decided to give it a try. Luck was on her side, the demon crumpled to the ground, revealing its hideous true form.

"Thanks." She said as she shrugged and walked away, the desert sand as her runway. She grinned at her friends.

"Isn't she like…supposed to have trauma or something?" Asked Fine, attempting to small talk with Kaye.

"Doesn't look like it…" Muttered Kaye.

As Rye got to the spot where the crystal was buried, she knelt down, started digging with her bare hands. They knew the crystal would be at least five feet below the ground.

"Talk about natural digging talents." Said Kaye, in awe that Rye was had already made a hole as tall as her.

"Hey, look! There's light…Okay, scratch that, look away if you still want to see!" Warned Fine.

Rye had already gotten the crystal and had successfully climbed out of the hole. She looked like some overjoyed kid with an oversized rock in hand.

'That. Was. Epic," She said. "Two peanut brains! The other one worse-looking though…" She said, referring to the incident earlier. She was all smiles now, they had the first crystal.

They proceeded to look for a suitable place to camp on. They settled for the small piece of land behind a mountain, shielding it from a small amount of heat. They sat down in their tents and had lunch, trying to ignore the heat that everyone except Rye felt.

Kaye and Fine were discussing their next move. Nina's crystal would be next, and they were sure it wasn't anywhere near. Transportation would be a problem. It wasn't like Faye could pick them up on their private jet again. They'd stay for a little while, though. Only Nina could teleport, and Rye wasn't in good shape at all. Plus, they never got to see the crystal.


	17. Chapter 17 Nina's Dive In Danger

They were all dying to see the crystal. Rye had wrapped it around a piece of cloth for the day, it was already too bright in Ecouter, the crystal would just double the pain. They decided to wait for nightfall.

"Go on, open it already." Kaye kept bugging Rye about that since the sun began to set. They were sitting around the campfire, it was perfectly dark.

"Okay, okay sheesh. I think we should put out the fire though." She said. Nina quickly exterminated the fire with her water element. Rye reached into her bag and took out what looked like a ball wrapped in cloth. Slowly, she started uncovering the crystal. Red light emerged from the thing in Rye's hands. It wasn't as bright as a while ago, but it still caused them to squint. Rye's arms were still bleeding at that time, but not that much. Blood slowly dripped onto the crystal on Rye's lap. Letters like holograms came shooting out of the crystal, though none of them formed words that made sense to any of them. They stared at the letters for a moment.

"Nina," Ryou said. Nina turned to look at him. He looked like he had just thought of something. "Gimme a shard, just one—DON'T POINT YOUR HAND AT ME!" They all laughed. Nina pointed her hand towards the ground, and from her hand emerged a single shard, she had full control of her powers now. She _carefully_ handed the shard to Ryou. Ryou held the shard with one hand, and held out his free arm. He stared at his own arm for a minute and then… he cut himself, but not too deep. They all stared at him, not fully understanding what his brain was up to. Rye wanted to shout, wanted to clean his wound, but she remembered she was mad at him…

Ryou let some blood drip onto the crystal then more and more lettered holograms appeared. But it still wasn't enough. Ryou looked at them, they looked at Ryou. They understood what had to be done, even though no one spoke. One by one they cut themselves and one by one, they dripped blood onto the crystal. They made sure they really did it one by one, since Rye had to perform negativity reversal on them to make sure their wounds would close immediately. Fine would be the last, she got over excited. Kaye had just cut herself up, Fine immediately look the shard and cut herself too soon—and too deep. She was bleeding hard, she was losing blood fast. Rye came running to Fine's side and quickly performed the negativity reversal, but not without getting blood to the crystal first…

Rye did succeed, but Fine still lost a lot of blood. They laid her in the tent for now, she needed rest. Kaye put her arm over the crystal. Almost as the blood touched the crystal, the words were completed.

_Crystal number two is in the land of water, Fleuve. _

They all stared at the words, hoping more information would come, but none did.

"How are we supposed to get there now?" Nina asked, outraged. It was like the crystal could hear her, because as Nina said the last words to her question, the word shifted.

_Portkey will leave in 3hours, 59minutes, 59 seconds._

The last number that represented the seconds ticked and ticked.

"So…" Nina began, hoping her next question would have another answer. "Is _this_ the portkey?"

Imediately, a _yes_ appeared under the countdown.

They checked the timer every now and then. By the time they only had 1 hour left, Fine was awake and they were all packed up.

_30 minutes…_

_15 minutes…_

_10 minutes…_

_5 minutes…_

_1 minute. _

They all gathered around the crystal, touching it with one hand.

_5, 4, 3, 2, 1._

Their surroundings shifted, everything became a blur. Rye heard Kaye shout something, but couldn't quite put together what it was. They all collapsed to the ground, they were in Fleuve.  
Everything in Fleuve was blue… almost. The sand was blue, the houses were blue, the grass was blue, heck- even the animals were blue! The only things blue-free were the villagers. They all got up and dusted the sand from their clothes. They wondered where now the crystals would take them…

They went deeper and deeper into the village. They received uncertain stares from all the villagers, they couldn't blame them. They probably looked like they were attacked by some rampaging bull or something. And elderly man approached them cautiously. He eyed the five teenagers and began to spoke.

"What brings you here?" He asked in a deep voice.

They hesitated for a moment, _should they tell this man?_

"I answered you all a question," he said, "What brings you all here?" he said in a firmer tone. They all hesitated for a moment, when they saw the man's lips move again, Ryou spoke up.

"We're in search for a blue crystal!" he blurted out quickly. He didn't only receive glares from the four, he received them from the villagers as well.

"You don't mean," the elderly man said, "the crystal of _eau?_"

The villagers surrounding them gasped. The man shook his head.

"I am warning you now, it is not safe to venture into the waters of lake _Hideg Ko._" He paused, looking at them warningly. "Those who have tried, much wiser than you all are," He said, pointing them out one by one, "have failed to come back emerge from the surface of the water."

There was a dramatic silence, you could clearly hear Nina's teeth chattering. Rye couldn't blame her, she was the one now responsible to get the crystal.

"Let's say…" Ryou began, the elder man turned to look at the blond boy, "we come across several lakes, how exactly should we distinguish lake _Hidag Ko_ from the others?" Kaye was about to step on Ryou's foot, expecting a violent reaction from either the villagers or the elder man, none came. Instead, the villagers all burst out laughing, the elder man as well.

"SILENCE!" He said, as he fulfilled his needs of laughter. "There is only one lake in the island of Fleuve, young man." They didn't need anymore saying, they took off and ran for the forest.

"I warned you all! Beware!" The man shouted from behind them. They didn't pay him any attention.

It was hard to keep track of where you were in the forest. Everything looked the same, everything was blue. They walked for hours and hours more. Soon, night came. But it wasn't that late yet, they decided to keep moving forward.

"What if the man was right," Fine said as he jumped over a root of a tree, "aren't you worried?" She asked Nina.

She looked solemn. She remained quiet through out their whole hike through the woods. Nina didn't have to answer Fine's question. The expression on her face was enough to tell that she was worried to death… _That man had said a lot have tried, but none have come back… what if she ends up like them?_ Nina discarded any further thoughts, she was worried enough. She didn't need reminding this could be her last time to see her friends.

"I see it!" Rye sounded overjoyed to have seen the lake… Nina on the other hand took this as her sign to say goodbye to her friends, but she didn't. She didn't want to worry them any more than how they feel right now. She told them she'd be back in five minutes, she assured them, then… she dived in.


	18. Chapter 18 New Crystal, Old Friends

They watched as their friend disappeared into the water. She was strong, but there was this doubt if they'd ever see her again. This was harder and different from getting the first crystal, they couldn't see Nina at all. What if someone planned to kill her right then and there? They wouldn't here her scream, they couldn't breathe or fight underwater…they won't be able to help. Guilt filled their hearts. Were they good friends? They didn't help her… But there was nothing they could do, that was the only way to get the crystal.

The forest was illuminated by sunlight, it looked really magnificent and happy. None of the four moved yet; they just stared at the horizon, expressionless, even if their insides were churning, awaiting their friend's return. Lake Hidag Ko looked calm, a façade from the surface, but below…Calm is what it would never be.

_One minute passed…Four minutes to five._

_Two minutes passed…Three minutes to five._

_Three minutes passed…_

_Damn! We're losing control!_Thought the four.

Nina opened her eyes. _This place is hideous!_ She thought as she tried to see among the dark, murky waters of the lake. _Hideous"Understatement of the Year award right there. Serious pollution issues…How'd it look so good up there?_ There was a glamour on the lake, its calm façade urging people to come closer…to be fed as dinner. Yes, you saw right. _Fed._ Nina gulped as soon as she realized it. She tried to hide behind a wall; a wall of broken bones. She paled. As she moved her arm…the wall crumbled down, revealing a very, very hungry hydra. The hydra was dismayed. Just one girl? Sasha had promised all of the five teens to her. The creature had been expecting her. _Fight…or run away. Scratch that, I can't see anything!_One against the hydra…she wouldn't put up a good fight.

_Ten…Nine…Eight…Seven…Six…Five…Four…Three…Two…One. Five minutes. WHERE IS SHE?_

"Guys, I'm sure she'll be-" Ryou was cut off by the endless crashing of waves.

"FINE? ARE YOU INSANE? THAT DOESN'T SHOW THAT SHE'S FINE!"

Shrieked the three girls. A boy jumped into the water. As he did so, the glamour peeled off the lake, revealing its true appearance.

Rye and the others' eyes widened. Nina went into that?

The hydra shot burning hot water at Nina. She dodged the attack. _FRACTAL SHARD BURST!_ She thought. But the water was lessening the impact. She didn't notice the second attack. Water spilled on her arm, burning its skin. A figure came into the lake.

She no longer felt the hydra's attacks. The figure was a boy around her age; yet he seemed smarter and more skilled. _He must have trained a lot._He was armed with a special blade, the only one of its kind which could hurt the hydra. First, the hydra was caught off-guard. It seemed familiar with him, as if they were acquaintances. He immediately charged at it. One of its eight heads fell off. Seven more to go.

Kaye and the others were distracted by the sound of voices at the other side of the forest. They decided to eavesdrop on their conversation.

"Cassiel! I told you to capture those little kids," Said a seventeen year old girl, fuming.

"You have failed me again."

The boy's head hung low, his shining blond hair a halo on his head. Only then did they realized that they witnessed the boy's death. It took everything Fine had to control them, moving them to a farther part of the forest. So someone had been following them all along, with a mission to be finished with their death. As if they weren't scared to death already.

Nina and the boy; who had the same element as she did, fought side-by-side against the hydra. She didn't expect any help from the rest anymore, they probably didn't know anything happening underwater. Suddenly, ten Rye-clones surrounded the hydra. The boy wasn't surprised. Each of the Rye's were armed with blades fifty percent weaker than the boy's. The clones tried influencing its mind, but it didn't respond. It seemed to be immune to powers that involved the mind. All the Rye-clones performed Negativity Reversal to Nina and her companion. Now that they were stronger than ever, they were able to freeze the hydra and burned it afterwards. Their opponent was gone, leaving ashes, a box, a crystal and a note.

Nina swam back up together with her companion.

"Ramon." He said.

"Nina." Strangely, he reminded her of the Ramon from kindergarten.

She ran to her friends, giving the girls a hug and Ryou a nod, telling them that she had successfully gotten the crystal.

"This is Ramon." She said as he and her friends shook hands. _Again with the hand-shaking._

Ryou called Nina, motioning her to go to the side of the forest.

"What's up?" She asked.

"You never knew?" He said, alarmed. "I just went through that dude's head… And saw him with Sasha."

"He's with Sasha?"

"Well, that's what I saw. Don't tell them you know that." He paused. "But there is something else I found; he is your Ramon from kindergarten." He smirked.

They rejoined their friends, who were now chatting animatedly with Ramon.

"Hey Nina," Ramon said. "I know you might think that I'm some crazy psycho working for Sasha. You're wrong. It's more like betraying." She smiled.

They stayed for a while, marveling at the view…

"You know," Ramon started. "You remind me of this girl from kindergarten…" He trailed off.


	19. Chapter 19 Ants In Her Pants

Ramon had left them minutes after Nina got the crystal. He said if he'd be gone from Sasha any longer, he'd be in trouble, more trouble than a cat surrounded by a hundred dogs.

They made camp again in the forest, they didn't dare go back to the village—the crystal might get stolen. If many had tried before, then obviously, they wouldn't hold back on an opportunity to take the crystal under a thirteen year-old's nose.

"So you think this crystal works like the fire crystal?" Nina asked. She was holding the crystal in her hands, unlike the fire crystal, it didn't need to be wrapped. It wasn't that bright, but it was still a spectacular view.

"Only one way to find out," Ryou said. He had kept the shard in his backpack, incase they still needed it. He took it out, again and he cut his arm. As the blood came in contact with the crystal, letters appeared once more.

"Then it's settled," he said as Rye did Negativity Reversal on him. "More blood."

They weren't too glad about that idea, they weren't glad at all. But they knew they needed to do this, they needed to stop Sasha.

So one by one, they cut themselves and let their blood drop onto the crystal . But this time, it didn't take a lot of effort. As Nina's blood came in contact with the crystal, no new letters came. Only one word now was being projected by the crystal…

_Underwater._

"What does that mean?" Fine asked, she stared wide eyed at the word. Her crystal would be next, and she wasn't a very good swimmer.

"Maybe the next crystal's underwater…" Rye suggested. Fine looked completely mortified.

"No it can't be," Nina said. "Fine's earth. It has to be on land."

"Then what could that mean, then? _Underwater, _doesn't really give us much of a start." Kaye said. There was a murmur of agreement.

They all stared at the campfire, deep in thoughts. It was already dark, the moon was shining brightly. This place wasn't like the city, you could see millions of stars in the sky.

Kaye suddenly jumped up, a triumphant look on her face. They all stared at her, waiting. But nothing came, she sat back down and put her head on her hands… Only a minute has passed and she jumped back up again. The four looked at Kaye expectantly, only seeing her sitting back down again… This continued on for about 10 more times.

"Would you just tell us what you thought about already?" Rye asked on the 11th time Kaye sat up. "Or do you just have ants in your pants or something?"

Kaye rolled her eyes at Rye, Rye stuck her tongue out at Kaye…

"Well," Kaye started, completely ignoring Rye's gaze. "What if it's not a person who has to go underwater? What if we put that crystal," she pointed the crystal on Nina's lap. "underwater, and it gave some sort of message or something?" She stayed still for a moment, as if considering her own idea.

"No, no. It's silly never mind." And she sat back down.

"Actually, that doesn't sound like a bad idea." Rye said. Nina stared at Rye.

"I am _not_ going back under there!" She said, pointing at the peaceful looking lake. They couldn't argue with her, it was too dangerous to go back in there, even for someone who has the water element. They considered transferring to another island, but then they remembered they had no transportation anymore. Then Ryou suggested they ask for a bucket of water from the villagers, then Rye pointed our that was a great idea – if they wanted to be run over by a mob of crystal hungry villagers.

In the end, Nina gave in. They decided they should get this over with already. They didn't want to waste time. But this time Nina wouldn't stay far from the surface, in case anything goes wrong. The lake may look peaceful on the surface, but once you dive in, it'd be like diving into a one way passage to your doom.  
Once or twice they could've sworn they saw another gryndilow floating towards Nina, but when they looked closer, it was just a log or a piece of driftwood.

She'd only been underwater for a minute when she finally got the message. She emerged from the water, but strangely, she wasn't wet at all.

"We have to go to some land called _Terre._" She said as she put the crystal back into her backpack. "It also gave us another start by the way, said it's located in a forest near the city of _Tanah._"

"I think I heard of that before," Kaye began. "It's near Indonesia, I think."

"The crystal didn't mention anything about being a portkey, Nina?" Ryou asked, hoping so bad that they wouldn't have any transportation problems this time. To his disappointment, Nina shook her head.

"I think we should camp out for tonight," Rye suggested, "since the encounter with the hippogriff," she looked pointedly at Ryou, "we didn't have much sleep, really."

They immediately agreed with Rye, all the walking, fighting off gryndilows and the hydra drained all the energy out of them.

"NO! NO! NOO!"

"RYE! WAKE UP! RYE!" Ryou was furiously shaking Rye. It was the middle of the night, Rye was screaming like there was no tomorrow. It had been happening for minutes now. Kaye, Nina and Fine were gathered around the mouth of Rye and Ryou's tent, staring nervously at Rye. She was sweating hard, when she opened her eyes, tears were trickling down her cheeks.

"Are you okay?" Nina asked rather loudly.

"What did you see?" Kaye asked, dying to know, anything that made Rye panic in her sleep probably wasn't good, but she wanted to know anyway.

Rye replayed the dream in her head. She could remember it clearly, they were in Elantya, dead bodies were surrounding them in Sasha's lair, she couldn't quite tell who they were. But she wasn't alone, Ryou was beside her. He was badly cut. She was looking around, she couldn't find Nina, Kaye or Fine—then Sasha appeared out of no where, she had weapons in her hands, a whole army behind her, she knew what she was going to do. She was going to take Ryou first.

Without knowing it, Rye was shouting again, she wanted to go away, she didn't want to be involved in any of this anymore, she wanted to go home. She missed her friends at school. But that would mean she would be leaving these four behind, her newly found friends. Even though one of them was a big peanut brain, she knew she would regret it if she left now.

"Hey…" Ryou said soothingly, Rye glared at him, she didn't want him to talk now, especially considering what she just saw. "Do you mind telling us what you saw? It might be important you know."

They all waited, they were expecting Rye to say it.

Of course she wasn't going to. She would never admit it, it was too disturbing, the dead bodies plus peanut head? That wasn't a good sign at all.

"It was nothing, it was just a Social Studies test I failed in…" She made up miserably. Really, no one believed Rye at this, it was a sorry attempt. But they didn't want to upset Rye any further. So Nina, Kaye and Fine went back to their tents, leaving Rye and Ryou alone, again…

"I know it's not that… I can feel it. You're hiding something from us." Ryou said as Rye got back into her sleeping bag.

"So what if I am hiding something? It's none of your business!"

"It _is _our business! We're all in this together! And what you saw might be very useful information!"

Rye ignored him, she wouldn't have any of this nonsense. But she knew Ryou was right, what if what she saw in the dream would come true, that they would not only fail, but die in the process in the hands of Sasha? She shuddered at the thought.

"What do you think Rye saw?" Kaye asked Nina as they were lying down in their own tent, clueless to what would be the outcome of their task.

"I don't know…" Nina admitted. "But I'm sure it's not good, considering the Social Studies test Rye made up."

"Yeah…" was all Kaye could say.


	20. Chapter 20 Drag Fine to Hell

They went to sleep troubled. Rye cried while asleep and Ryou couldn't make her stop.

It was already morning. Nina and Kaye brought out the food on a mat, calling the rest, informing them that it was already time for breakfast. Fine had picked fruits from the nearby trees. Rye came out of their tent looking haggard and Ryou looked like he hardly got any sleep.

"So…any chance that you'll tell us what that freaky dream of yours was about?" He asked. She just kicked him, grabbed a fruit and sat under a faraway tree.

"She's…unusually silent." Noticed Fine.

"Nothing about anything is 'the usual'." Said Kaye.

"Maybe she saw a vision, or something close to that." Guessed Nina.

"Maybe, maybe not. We won't know until she tells us. She isn't the one who can see the future..." Said Fine.

Rye didn't want to eat. She just wanted to make the dream go away, at the same time, she wanted to know if she could stop them from falling into Sasha's clutches. She looked at Fine, Kaye and Nina. She didn't see them in her dream. Maybe they died? She quickly brushed away that thought. Maybe they were able to escape? Yeah, that sounded better. If they did, hopefully they'd have all the crystals with them, even if she'd have to die.

She walled back to her friends, and it seemed like they were ready to leave, waiting for her.

"I have this idea," Started Kaye. "If Nina teleports and we all hold hands…I guess we'll get to Terre with her."

"It isn't half bad." Agreed Ryou

"We'll just have to take chances." Said Fine

The friends held hands and closed their eyes. Slowly, their surroundings shifted.

They were in another forest, shrouded by large trees. It seemed like they had successfully reached Terre.

As they walked through the forest, a suspicious native approached them.

"You must be the chosen ones," She began in a gravelly voice.

"What do you mean?" Asked Fine.

"People here have long been plagued with starvation, a punishment for trying to fight the evil mistress. For years, no one has come here, in Terre to get the crystal of Suolo."

"Why not?"

"Because they simply were not strong and worthy enough of having it. With the evil mistresses' strength, she has a chance," She paused. "I see you are the one tasked to retrieve it," She said, looking at Fine. Fine took a step forward. The woman gave her a glowing box. As she turned around to thank the woman… She was already far away, her image fading.

"Don't look back. Don't thank me."

Kaye and the others sat on the ground.

"No way. It can't be that easy…" Said Rye.

"You mean she gave it to you, just like that?" Said an exasperated Nina.

Fine nodded.

"Have you actually opened that box?" Asked Ryou.

"I haven't, but…I guess I will now."

The blinding light caused Rye and the others to fall backwards, wind was blowing and tons of leaves were falling off the trees.

Fine gasped, a hole was forming on the ground, getting bigger and bigger. The hole was engulfed by fire, and slowly, and invisible force was compelling her to come closer.

She couldn't resist anymore. As the force dragged her to the hole,

"FINE!" The four screeched. It was already too late.

Fine got up. She knew she fell into the hole. She was in a forest, a different one. Behind the trees, there was a bright light. _THE CRYSTAL!_ She thought. And she thought wrong.

She saw movement by the source of light. She took a step forward…and… An army of skrewts were there, ready to tear her to pieces.

By the time Fine disappeared, the hole was gone. The four stood there, gaping. Nina was the first to recover. She was hitting the ground, acting like it would open up for them. It didn't. She's on her own now.

One against the army of skrewts. No. Fine summoned eight hippogriffs, each of them rivaling the skrewts. Her hippogriffs pierced the hard shells of the skrewts, earning loud shrieks. The skrewts were all ill-tempered, and they proceeded to fight her hippogriffs. As they were all engaged in some hitting war, she took the opportunity to run.

The trees seemed dead. Fine ran deeper into the forest, looking for some sign of the Suolo crystal. She prepared to turn back; as she looked, one tree seemed to shine with life. It was the only tree with fruits too. She walked towards it. In the middle of the tree's trunk…was the crystal. She quickly grabbed it and wrapped her fingers around it as if hiding the crystal from invisible foe. She prayed to find a way back up. The crystal seemed to hear her plea though, the tree grew higher and higher. There lay the entrance back to Terre.


	21. Chapter 21 Cloud Nine

Fine looked up at the tree in front of her. It wasn't really a joy knowing she'd have to climb a tree almost 20 stories high… She put the crystal safely in her bag, and started hugging the tree—no, climbing it. It was like she was a natural climber. She was 10 feet above the ground now, she looked down at the 'battle' going on feet away from the tree, bodies of dead skrewts were scattered here and there, one hippogriff lay near the bushes, motionless. She felt sorry for the thing, it died to save her, but she knew she needed to move on. She focused her eyes on the entrance back to Terre, she focused on her friends waiting for her on the other side, she focused on Sasha, the one who was causing them all this trouble. She hadn't even realized she climbed for long because when her eyes came in focus again, the door was directly in front of her.

"LOOK!" Kaye said, pointing at the hole forming on the ground where Fine had disappeared minutes ago. The hole was sucking sand, until finally, Fine emerged from it, sand covering every inch of her body. The four burst out laughing at the sight of their new sandman.

"So you got the crystal?" Kaye asked while trying to fight back more laughter.

Fine shook like a wet dog after a bath, soon, it were the four who were covered in sand. When Fine was satisfied by how her friends looked like, she took out the crystal. This was the first time Fine really examined it closely, she hadn't noticed how delicately designed the crystal was. The crystal was green, on it was carved outlines of different animals, each glowing brightly. They all stared at it for a minute, mesmerized by the sight.

"Please don't tell me we need blood again…" Rye complained. In truth, nobody wanted to shed any more blood, obviously. Who did?

But they couldn't be so sure that they didn't need blood. They needed someone to cut him/herself…

"You do it." The four girls in unison said, looking at Ryou.

"WHAT?" He asked, outraged by their sudden decision. "WHY ME?"

"Because," Nina began, "you're the eldest." She said simply.

"How old are you guys anyway?" He asked defensively. There was a mixture of numbers… This was really the only time they considered knowing each other's ages… Fine was 12, also Nina. Kaye and Rye were 13, Ryou was 14.

"Come on," Kaye said. "Please?"

Nina was doing those puppy dog eyes on him. Fine elbowed Rye.

"OW!" Rye exclaimed, but not loud enough for the others to hear her. Fine had this look on her face that could be easily read…

"Oh no, I'm not talking to him. Not now."

But before Fine could argue, Ryou spoke up.

"Okay, okay! Give me the shard already." Nina looked completely please with herself. She looked like a girl who just won a truck load of candy.

She produced another shard from her palm and handed it over to Ryou.

They all watched closely as Ryou's blood came in contact with the crystal. They waited, and they waited… and they waited. But nothing came.

"Guess it's not blood then. Thanks for letting me waste another drop of my blood." Ryou said as Rye did Negativity Reversal on him.

"It's not like your blood is that precious, and at least now we know we don't need blood." Fine said. Ryou look at her, _wasn't this my fangirl? _He thought. _And now, she's acting like Rye… Rye…Why isn't she still talking to me?_

His face made weird expressions as he wandered off to his own thoughts, earning uneasy stares from the girls. He snapped out of it and joined the four, thinking of a way to get the crystal to reveal its message… They weren't even sure if there was a message, what if there wasn't? What if it all ended here? But something told them it didn't end here… They knew for a fact there were 6 crystals, they had three now. They knew how to get them, except the last one. That would be a tough challenge. But they could worry about that later, right now, they needed to worry about the giant spider standing in front of them, fangs, pointing down directly at Kaye and Ryou. Fine was the first to notice, followed by Rye, who first laughed at Fine's face… but turned to look in the other direction, only to be faced by 4 pairs of gigantic legs. They screamed together, causing the others to finally absorb what was going on…

They relieved from the shock no moment too soon. Rye made clones of herself, each firing fire balls at the spider's eyes, Nina, controlling the spider's very own shadow, making it attack its owner. A tiger appeared out of no where, Fine must have summoned it, Ryou was deep in concentration, busy controlling the tiger. Kaye was practically giving them all a bad hair day, but at least she was preventing the spider from getting any nearer.

As soon as they thought it couldn't get worse, they were proven wrong. Apparently, the spider had children… a _lot._

It was at least one on a hundred. The zipper to Fine's bag was still open, the crystal fell out… The ground shook violently as the crystal came in contact with the ground. Hundreds of holes appeared where the spiders stood, causing them all to fall into what Fine called Hell… Letters replaced the holes seconds after the spiders disappeared, informing them where to go. They heard a familiar sound of a helicopter whirring above them, they looked up and saw Aina and Darah. Darah had a megaphone in her hands.

"We're sending down a rope ladder," She shouted. "Climb up immediately."

They were thrilled to see them, even more thrilled to know they were safe… for now. Fine grabbed the crystal before joining the others on the rope ladder.

"When did you guys get here?" Rye asked as she stepped into the helicopter.

"We were always with you guys," Aina said as she helped Kaye up. "We were only to make an appearance when you were in great danger. Now seemed to be the right time."

They all argued, they've been in danger many times before this, but all the two would say was that 'we knew you could handle it.'

"So, where are you guys headed now? We can drop you off."

They looked at each other.

"Cloud nine." They said in unison.

Aina and Darah stopped what they were doing.

"Cloud nine? Are you pretty sure that's where you need to go?" Aina asked, but the five all had serious looks on their faces. She knew they were sure. She turned back to her seat, she was the one driving.

"Then cloud nine it is."

They all took seats and buckled their seatbelts, this wasn't going to be a very safe trip…


	22. Chapter 22 Abel and Unicorns Uhuh

The helicopter zoomed higher, into the clouds. Among all of those clouds, where could the crystal be hidden? They'd have to search for it themselves. The only comforting thought was that they would be with Kaye, to be able to protect and help her if one of those creepy monsters would attack. They noticed the helicopter reach its limit. The five were instructed to jump out on three, Darah's signal.

_One…Two… THREE! _She signaled them to jump.

Kaye and the rest jumped to the largest cloud.

"Let's split up from here." Proposed Ryou.

"You take that way, I take this, you there…and you...there." Rye said, pointing at the far distance for Ryou.

The friends were busy cloud-hopping.

Kaye bumped into a creature that probably just existed in fairytales. It had a silvery-white horn, and wings on it. A UNICORN? She pinched herself. It was still there. She came closer and put her hand on the unicorn. It came closer. She smiled. She hopped onto its back, telling it to hop further and further.

Ryou and the others found unicorns too. The unicorns flew at the same direction.

Kaye could make out the detail of a castle. Could it be possible that the crystal was there? The unicorns stopped at the door. A beautiful lady opened the door to the castle.

She was dressed in a beautiful flowing white dress that reached the floor, her curly hair was tied in a simple ponytail.

"You must be lost," She said. "Come with me."

The five followed her inside. The castle was rimmed with gold, shining whenever sun entered the room, it wasn't hot at all, there was some kind of special air-conditioning.

People were chatting in the hallway, staring occasionally at the five.

"We haven't had them for long," Said a man. Had what? Humans? No way.

"Don't worry," Said the lady, Katsa. "He meant that none of your kind had visited us for long."

"Our kind?" Asked the five.

"Yes, ones completely human, but with power."

Katsa ate lunch with them, feeding them with the finest food they've ever tasted. Maybe they've got some special seasoning here…

She led them to three rooms. _Three? Three again? Is that number cursed or what?_ Thought Rye, still with the original roommates.

After resting in their rooms, the five were ready to go again. Katsa had explained to them that she had heard of the whereabouts of the Vindul crystal. Up north, she said. They were dressed in winter gear, since Katsa forced them to do so. _It couldn't be that cold up there, right? WRONG. _

It was as if they were in North Pole. Fine, Nina and Ryou were shivering while Rye and Kaye didn't feel any difference.

"Let's split up again." Ordered Kaye.

They couldn't see much, the place seemed like an endless dump of snow. Kaye was already far ahead as the four realized something.

"WE'RE FALLING!"

As Abel was riding his unicorn, he heard cries for help. He quickly turned the other way around, towards the sound. A girl was there, together with four other companions. They must have fallen into the patch of snow that was unstable. He caught her three friends. Just three? But there were four earlier! He must've missed one.

Frances felt her insides slipping out.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" She screamed. She landed on the Hilton Hotel in Sri Lanka. She opened her eyes. She was in a rich girl's party. 'HAPPY BIRTHDAY BERNIA!' The banner read. No way. This couldn't be clingy-girl Bernia from Math class. Fine got up, realizing that she was still on the floor. All eyes were on her. Bernia grinned.

"Aww! You're such an awesome friend! I knew you'd never miss my party!" Said Bernia as she tackled Fine.

_Hello, doom and disaster. _


	23. Chapter 23 Falling Angels

"So did you fall off a plane or something?" Bernia asked Fine as they went to the buffet table. _Uhhh… _In truth, they've been flying off planes and jets a lot since they left head quarters, but of course she couldn't tell Bernia…

"What? Pfft! Of course not that's ridiculous!"

"Actually, she fell off a cloud."

They turned to see where the voice came from—Abel was there, sitting on a unicorn like it was no big deal, Nina, Rye and Ryou were behind him, laughing to themselves.

"I guess they weren't kidding about falling angels." Rye said. They laughed even harder.

"YOU BROUGHT A UNICORN FOR ME?" Bernia exclaimed. "THANK YOU THANK YOU!" She said as she hugged Fine.

The guests at Bernia's party were all gaping like fish. It was like being in a pond full of fish sticking their heads out of the water.

Abel snapped his fingers and everyone at the party – excluding the four and Abel – fell into a trance.

"Don't worry," Abel said, responding to the concerned look on Fine's face. "They'll be back to normal as soon as we head high enough."

"Where's your jacket?" Fine asked as they zoomed up higher into the sky.

"Lost it in the fall, but I'll be okay." Rye said simply.

They thanked Abel for the ride when they got off again on cloud nine. Kaye came running towards them, happy, and blushing.

"Th-Thanks f-for saving them." She stammered at Abel.

"No big, what were you guys up to anyway?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Nothing," Ryou replied before any of them could think of what to say. "Come on guys, we better go look again." And he led the others away from the guy and his unicorn.

"Well that wasn't rude." Nina said as they walked, avoiding any unstable looking clouds on the way.

"I don't trust him. None of us should."

"Huh?" The four said, almost automatically in unison.

"He's after the crystal too."

No more was said after that. They had to find the crystal before Abel does. What if he works for Sasha? They'd be in big trouble then. Kaye looked disappointed, _probably because her prince charming is working against them…_Rye thought.

Rye was shivering, she was freezing from head to toe. She hadn't realized how cold it was here until she had lost her jacket.

"Here," Ryou said. "You can take my jacket." He said as he handed it over to Rye.

"I don't want your jacket, I'm fine."

"So you count freezing to death as fine?"

"If I take it, you'd be the one freezing to death." She hadn't meant to sound concerned, she blushed at her own comment.

"It won't be long," He said as he helped Rye put on his jacket. "Kaye's about to find the crystal, and Abel."

Kaye turned to look at him, Fine and Nina had smirks plastered on their faces.

"How did you know?" She asked him, a confused expression on her face.

"Because he's right there," he said, pointing at a cloud not far from them. "And he has a triumphant look on his face."

They all stared at him, mortified. Nina, Fine, Rye and Ryou ran like their lives depended on it, Kaye flew. She was the first to arrive, and the first to see Abel, holding the crystal as if it were his baby, a manic glint in his eye.

The others arrived just as Kaye was approaching Abel. They tried to come nearer, but the enchantment surrounding the crystal just blasted them all further.

"KAYE!" Nina screamed as they all got up, they nearly fell off the edge of the cloud. They couldn't risk that, especially now they can't really depend on _Abel_ to save them again.

Abel turned to look where the noise was coming from. His eyes met Nina, his face only read one thing, evil.

He extended his free arm out, his palm facing Nina. A mysterious ball of light was forming in his palm, it got bigger and bigger, until he released it. Nina stood there, wide eyed. The ball of cosmic energy was approaching her, closer and closer, but no collision came. She had closed her eyes while waiting for the blow to come.

"RYOU!" She heard the three other girls shout. She opened her eyes, Ryou was lying down in front of her, eyes closed, but still breathing. He looked pale. Rye was kneeling down beside him, trying to do negativity reversal, it wasn't working.

Kaye turned to face Abel, her fists were clenched. That guy may be hot, but he hurt her friend. She would not tolerate with that. She would not allow anyone to harm her friends. Kaye opened her mouth, burning hot air came rushing out of her, hitting Abel squarely in the face. He was blown a good 5 feet away, he was sitting down, clutching the crystal tighter, Kaye took a step forward, tears forming in her eyes. She looked at Abel, the Abel she thought she knew since elementary.

The Abel, just a little whiter than her, taller, his black hair, red eyes—_RED EYES?_

Pictures were flashing in her mind, _red eyes._ Rye had encountered a Ryou with red eyes on their search for the fire crystal…

_This is not Abel._ Kaye forced herself to believe her own thoughts.

She moved closer, step by step. Abel looked up at her, his eyes, pleading for Kaye to stop.

"Kaye, I thought we were friends, remember all those times in elemen-."

"Shut up," Kaye said, her voice was shaking, she was standing in front of Abel now. "You are not my friend. You are not Abel."

Kaye raised her arms up, just as Abel was about to attack. The wind grew colder, it was forming a ball like structure in Kaye's hands. She flung it with all her might towards Abel, the wind literally got blown out of him. He revealed his true demon form, withering to dust seconds later, leaving the crystal in a bed of dust.

"Is he all right?" Kaye asked as she got back to the four, crystal in hand, tears on her cheeks.

"We'll be staying here for a while," Rye said, her eyes were puffy. But no one dared to smirk now, now that Abel was in danger. "Negativity Reversal won't work. That Abel really—."

"HE'S NOT ABEL! HE'S A DEMON! LIKE THE ONE YOU ENCOUNTERED DURING OUR SEARCH FOR THE FIRE CRYSTAL!" Kaye shouted defensively.

"Chill, Kaye." Nina said.

"Let's just get Ryou back to the castle," Fine began. "He needs rest."

They all hoisted Ryou up, it took all four of them to carry him back to Katsa's castle.

As they entered the familiar gold rimmed castle, they were greeted by someone new. She wore the same white flowing dress as Katsa, she had Katsa's eyes, but she was younger.

"Where's Katsa?" Nina asked.

"I am her daughter," the girl explained. "Caileigh. My mother is a meeting right now. You can wait for her in the sitting room."

"Funny she has the same name as my servant in the dream…" Nina whispered to Fine, who suppressed a smile.

"We will not wait, we need to speak to her now." Kaye said firmly.

"She is in a very important meeting. She can not be disturbed." Caileigh replied.

"Didn't you hear her?" Nina asked, she was getting annoyed with the girl. "And can't you see the state of our friend? _We need to see her, NOW._" She emphasized the last sentence.

Caileigh glanced at the boy they were carrying, then looked back at Nina.

"Your friend must wait. I assure you, he will be fine."

Rye couldn't take it anymore, she stormed off in the direction for Katsa. She didn't know why, but she knew where to go. She barged into a huge, circular room. Tables were placed in the shape of a 'U'. The floor was made out of marble, the ceiling, enchanted to mimic the weather outside. And there, sitting in front of her, were Katsa and Sasha.


	24. Chapter 24 Ryou back to being a peanut

_Katsa and Sasha? No way! This is a dream. This _has _to be a dream. Unfortunately, its not. We're screwed. _Katsa and Sasha? They couldn't possibly be on the same side. Rye stared at Sasha, starting their unofficial staring battle. Katsa looked like she wasn't bothered having the craziest diabolical power-hungry person as a guest. Ramon was with Sasha. He looked at Rye cautiously as if telling her to back off. Sasha glared at Ramon. No words were said between Rye and Sasha, but it was clear that the race was officially on. Sasha stormed out of the room, with Ramon hesitatingly following. They probably had a lead on the fifth crystal, seeing that they were in a hurry. How could Kaye and the others get the crystal when Ryou's currently unconscious? Rye stared at Katsa, a confused expression on her face. Was this really the woman who helped them?

"KATSA!" She screamed. The woman seemed to not notice though, Katsa was still standing with an eerily calm expression on her face. Katsa looked up and raised an eyebrow. Red eyes were staring into Rye's brown ones. _Red again? SASHA. _

Katsa was shaking all over, having a seizure. Rye didn't dare come close, Katsa might transform into one of those creepy spiders. To her surprise, Katsa was okay. Katsa looked at Rye with a mortified expression on her face. Her eyes were brown, reassuring Rye that she was the real Katsa.

"W-What did she make me do?" Said Katsa, fear evident in her eyes and tone.

"Nothing that I know of." Said Rye, a bit calmer but still suspicious.

Nina was out of breath. She couldn't find Rye anywhere. She had already gone through most of the rooms in the castle, and there was no sign of her friend. She was ready to give up, until she saw a large room appropriate for a meeting. She was tired.

"RYE! YOU CAN'T JUST COME IN-" She stopped. She saw Katsa, her eyes flashing from brown to red. Katsa may be strong enough to resist Sasha, but she couldn't do so all the way. Nina stared. There had to be something unexpected up for them.

Calleigh was ordered to keep an eye on Katsa, she was warned that her mother might turn into one of Sasha's minions and back. She led the five back to their rooms, telling them to call her if anything bothered them, anytime.

Rye and the others were back in their rooms, with their roommates. Or, totally unresponsive roommate. She tried unsuccessfully to wake him up, pulling his blond hair here and there. One last resolution… PANIC! She paced in their room, thinking.

"Worried, huh?" That voice she knew well broke her out of her trance. She glared at him. He seemed fine, still the same annoying peanut head. At least to her he _seemed_ fine. No one mentioned anything about being scared all over and probably paranoid and mentally unstable.

Sasha showed Ryou what could possibly happen if things went wrong. Rye was on the ground, bloody, bruised and lifeless. So were the others. And he? He had killed them with his own hands, being controlled by Sasha. But, she had also shown him a glimpse of the clear Chiaramente crystal. It was in a cave by the island of Spiegare, near Iceland.

Rye had called the rest to their room. Ryou had already explained to the rest about the crystal—forgetting about the little detail about them losing their life.

The four stared at him.

"We know how to get there, we've got tickets…" Said Nina.

Ryou was too busy in his own thoughts to hear her.

"RYOU. You're hiding something from us." Said Kaye. They'd noticed.

"If things go crazy in Spiegare, and yes, I mean totally crazy," He started. "Run. Take the crystal with you and whatever, I don't care. Just take it. If I end up having red eyes too…forget about me. If I end up attacking you… I don't mean it. Just go and do what they wanted us to." The three were silent. Rye stared at him.

"WHAT? Just leave you there?" She shouted, which was what everyone else wanted to say.

"Exactly. No further explanation." He left the room.


	25. Chapter 25 Ten Men

"All right," Rye said as the others left their room, leaving Rye and Ryou alone, again. "What is it you're hiding from us?" She asked him, her voice sounding stern.

"I find it a miracle you're talking to me." He said without thinking.

"Stop trying to change the subject," Rye said, annoyed. "I know you're hiding something."

"I'm not hiding anything, Rye." He said simply. He stood up in front of Rye, he was close, too close. Rye took a step backward, as if avoiding a hungry spider's gaze. Ryou stared at Rye, Rye was staring at the floor. She didn't want to meet his eyes.

"OW!" Nina exclaimed.

"SH! Be quiet they're gonna know we're here!" Fine scolded her.

They were outside Rye and Ryou's room, eavesdropping on their little conversation. They couldn't help it. They knew there'd be a love team forming in their group once more. They all stood there, ears pressed to the door of their room, listening in to whatever they can listen to. Kaye was looking through the key hole, Rye and Ryou were already standing up, facing each other.

"Just remember what I told you and the others," he started, now holding Rye by the shoulders. "Run, run when I tell you to. If anything goes wrong-."

"Nothing's gonna go wrong, Ryou," she said, trying to fight back tears. This might be the same peanut head she met on the first day, but she grew so attached to him now…

"What are they talking about now?" Fine asked, they were still outside, ears pressed hard to the door. But they still couldn't hear the whispered conversation they were having inside.

"I dunno," Kaye said, scratching her head. "Something about porridge I think." The two girls turned to look at Kaye, expressions of great annoyances on their faces.

"Kaye," Nina began. "They couldn't possibly be talking of porridge. They're obviously talking about tomato soup!" The two murmured their agreement.

Tomato soup wasn't one of their favorite topics, really, but they decided to listen in anyway. They had just had dinner, they basically had nothing to do anymore. They were already packed for the flight, all they had to do know, was eavesdrop…

Kaye turned her attention back to the keyhole, she just put her eye to it for one second, when she let out a squeal- no, not a squeal, more like a fangirl scream. The two looked at her questioningly. All she did to answer their unasked questions, was to point at the keyhole. Nina and Fine took turns, looking through the keyhole, and giving out a fangirl scream. They were giggling, rolling on the floor, so astonished by what they saw.

Ryou's arms were wrapping Rye in a tight hug, Rye was looking up, Ryou down, their faces moved slowly towards each other until their lips met, they were making out…

Rye's insides were burning, she felt safe in Ryou's arms, like nothing could get at her. She never felt this way about anyone before—well of course there was her kindergarten crush, Reynold, but it was like he doesn't exist anymore. He's nothing to Rye anymore, especially with Ryou there. Their kiss lasted a minute, Fine's, Nina's and Kaye's giggles lasted all through out the kiss.

They woke up the next morning when the sun hasn't even risen yet. Caileigh would bring them to the airport, by unicorn again, as if there was nothing strange about that… Rye and Ryou said nothing the whole ride towards the airport, but they weren't arguing, they weren't mad, they were happy.

Fine, Nina, Kaye on the other hand, couldn't stop talking. But of course they had to make codes so that Rye and Ryou wouldn't understand.

"I can't believe tomato and porridge are together again!" Fine exclaimed as they dove past the thick white clouds.

"I know, can you believe it. It feels just like yesterday they didn't taste good together." Nina said as she let out a sigh.

"That just sounds gross…" Kaye said at Nina's comment. Rye and Ryou were both wondering why on earth would they want to put tomatoes in porridge? That would be absurd.

Their seats in the plane were together, but it came no shock to them when Rye and Ryou decided to sit together. But they'll have to save the clinginess for later, right now, they had other things to worry about… Ramon was just sitting at the seat, 3 rows away from them.

"You guys think Sasha's here?" Kaye asked, eyeing Ramon with displeasure.

"I don't think so," Nina started, she, unlike Kaye, could see through Ramon's identity as Sasha's minion. She could see Ramon had a heart… _A heart that would belong to me if it hadn't been for Sasha! _She thought. "Sasha could teleport remember?" She continued.

"Sasha could practically do anything…" Kaye said with a deep sigh. They all frequently turn to check on Ramon through out the flight. Nothing suspicious had happened. He just sat there, like an ordinary passenger… "Well, one thing's for sure. If Ramon's here, then we're sure Sasha has a lead to the crystal." Fine said. She didn't want to believe her own words, but they knew it was true.

"Look on the bright side," Ryou inserted. "At least we know we're still on the right track."

Fine was sitting farthest from Rye and Ryou, but she was the first to notice them holding hands… Right here on the plane, in plain view of them 3. It was like they were making their relationship public. Fine elbowed Nina, she nodded her understanding, she saw it too.

They checked in to a hotel in Iceland, not far from the cave Ryou had mentioned. They were glad not to be camping for once. But they couldn't stay in the hotel for long. Tomorrow, as the sun sets, they'll head for the Chiaramente crystal, letting no one come in their way. Sasha was here, they needed to get it before her. If they fail, all hope was lost. They only needed two more crystals, one of those was on the very same land they're standing on now. The other, they don't know of the whereabouts at all. Hopefully, Sasha won't know either, but they know her enough to be sure she at least has a head start.

Room assignments went as usual, no surprise. It was only lunch time when they had finished settling into their rooms. They decided to go out and eat at some restaurant. They said as long as they're traveling practically the whole world, they might as well try the different delicacies each country offers.

They went into a restaurant that looked like it was famous here, _Laekjarbrekka._

Fine was forced to eat fish, it was the only thing close to vegetarian there. They all served meat. As they quietly ate their lunch, a guy approached their table.

"Hey," Ramon said.

"We don't associate with enemies." Fine said. Nina was taken aback.

"Guys! He saved my life, here! Can't we trust him?" Nina exclaimed. They all stared at her, even Ramon. She bowed her head and ate her chicken, blushing.

"He's still working for Sasha, Nina. We can't be sure if he's trustworthy." Ryou said, glaring at Ramon.

"Guys, I'm sorry. But I had no choice but to join Sasha."

"No choice to join a diabolical woman—." Rye said.

"She's seventeen, Rye! You five combined, I'm sure you can beat her." Ramon argued.

"That doesn't change how wrong your decision is, Ramon." Kaye said, proud of her logic…

"If you guys just hear me out-!"

"We won't be hearing from any of our enemies," Ryou said as he placed 40 dollars on the table. "Come on guys, we have planning to do." Fine, Kaye and Rye stood up without hesitation, they had to pull Nina along to make sure she doesn't stay behind and associate even more with Ramon.

They stayed in Kaye and Nina's room this time, particularly because Rye and Ryou's room was near some unwanted guests. They looked suspicious to the five, Rye could've sworn she saw a hint of red in one of the men's eyes.

"So why exactly do we have to leave at night time?" Fine asked for the hundredth time. The four sighed. They were tired of explaining it over and over again.

"Because the cave only opens at Christmas time, exactly 12 midnight. We have to get out before the sun rises." Ryou explained again.

"Or we'll be trapped there for another whole year, if we're lucky enough to even reach next Christmas." Rye continued again.

If it weren't for all the Christmas decorations around the entrance of the hotel, even reaching up to the rooms, they wouldn't believe it was already Christmas. They've been gone for so long, but their absence wasn't a nuisance. They're this close now to stopping Sasha. It might mean that they'll miss Christmas with their family and friends, but at least they can make sure that this will not be the last Christmas they'll spend. Plus, knowing that they'll spend Christmas with one another lightened up their moods a bit. Today was December 23 and it was 7:43pm. About 29 hours from now, they would leave the 'safety' of this hotel, and venture into the dark cave.

Safety wasn't really the right word to describe the hotel, since at this point, it was crowded with red-eyed men who looked prepared to start a fight at any moment.

"I told you to get as much information from them as possible!"

"I'm s-s-sorry my master-." The guy stammered.

"SORRY? YOU LET VERY IMPORTANT INFORMATION SLIP AWAY FROM YOUR HANDS WITHOUT EVEN A FIGHT?" The woman snarled.

They were in a dark room, Sasha was standing on a platform, the walls were made of ice, but it was not cold, the floor, it was made out of pure crystal. Before her, knelt Ramon. He was shaking from head to toe, fearing what her master will do to her now.

"They know I'm working for you, master. They wouldn't dare talk to me." He more of whispered than said. Sasha glared at the boy.

How could the boy be scared of a girl only two years older than her? Surely, she must only be a harmless, innocent teenager.

Sure, anybody would believe that… Sasha was the exact opposite of innocent. She was purely diabolical (if you have missed that out before, well, now you know.). She plans to destroy earth, humans would be forced to pay her millions for a room in her newly built space hotel. She would become the richest woman on ear—space!

"And how do you think they found out, Ramon?" She asked, pure hatred in her voice. Ramon did not answer. He knew this was a rhetorical question. He wouldn't even get a say in anything, he knew a punishment was coming. Sasha didn't even bother to wait longer than five seconds for an answer, she clapped her hands and immediately two men wearing business suits, holding briefcases came at her side.

"You remember the ten men, don't you Ramon?" Sasha asked, sarcasm now was her intention. Ramon stared at the two men in front of him, there was his worst fear, standing two feet away from him, hi didn't dare move.

The ten men were called that for a reason, they were feared for a very serious reason. They look like ordinary business men, on a business trip, minding their own business—people are easily fooled.

These were minions of Sasha. They got the name 'Ten Men' for they are known to have ten different ways to torture information out of innocent people. Their briefcase, holds 8 of them. Two are within easy reach, a handkerchief in their pocket that can knock out the toughest man when it came too near to it. And their ties, used as whips on innocent by-passers who come in their way.

Ramon shuddered, he knew what was coming. His other co-minion had been tortured to death days earlier by these same men. "No… n-no!" he stammered.

"Why Ramon, you don't remember them?" Sasha asked, obviously amused by the reaction she got. Ramon stared at the Ten Men, then at Sasha, left and right his head was moving. He was facing his death, and yet, he did not dare move, for if he did, Sasha had worse tricks up her sleeve. His soul would be sucked out of him, leaving him alive, but soulless.

"Perhaps my Ten Men can help you recall what happened to Mark last week." She snapped her fingers and the ten men stepped forward. He knew what he had to do, he didn't even hesitate to do it—he ran.

He ran like his life depended on it, well of course it _did._ He ran faster than a cheetah, dodging all the pointed pencils the ten men were shouting at him. One pencil caused the diamond on the wall to break into pieces, yes, they were that sharp.

He ran through the long hallway under the very same hotel the five were sleeping in, deep in sleep, unaware of all the commotion going on underground. He climbed a steep ladder, and he emerged, unscarred. He was free now, free to do whatever he wanted, he was wrong. Just as he emerged from the trap door, two boney hands grabbed him by the arms, and dragged him back down to the room, his soul would be sucked out of him. And there was no escape. He took his final glance at the full moon before the door slammed in his face.

"Do you guys have the feeling like something wrong had happened?" Kaye asked as the others discussed strategies. They all shook their heads, looking utterly confused.

"I think we should call it a night," Ryou suggested. "We have a long day ahead of us." They said good night to each other and Ryou, Rye and Fine made way for their own rooms. Rye couldn't help but think about what Kaye asked, for she knew Kaye could see the future, she could predict any outcome, her dream flashed before her very eyes. The very same one she had nights before, bodies surrounding her and Ryou, but she couldn't make out their faces, Ryou stood beside her, almost every inch of his body was bleeding, but he looked determined. She saw Sasha at the other end of the room, a whole army of business men—_business men?_ Behind her. It was it, it was the end, they had failed.

She sat up in a bolt; she had the same dream again. Ryou was awakened by all the fuss. She had been crying in her sleep again.

"Rye you should really tell us about that dream you know…" He said sleepily.

"I told you, it was just about a social studies test!" She argued.

Ryou was too tired to argue, he looked at the clock, it was 3:21am… He just rolled his eyes at Rye and went back to sleep.


	26. Chapter 26 Girls' Bathroom

It was just six in the morning and they were already awake and anxious. Their things were already packed, they were ready to go to Spiegare. They went down to have breakfast…

"They're here. I sense them." Said one of the men clad in black sunglasses and business suits.

_The guys I saw from my dream…_ Thought Rye.

"Do you see them?" One asked.

"Not yet, but we are sure they are here. Sasha has predicted them leaving their rooms at exactly this minute." Answered the other one.

_Sasha._ That name was synonymous to doom. As soon as the five heard her name, they hid. Rye didn't get to tell them anything about the men yet, she'd have do so now, unless she'd want them whipped by killer ties.

They were stuck in the girl's bathroom, each of them in a cubicle. Except for Ryou and Rye. They were together in one.

"What the hell are we doing-" He paused. "God knows why you dragged me here!" Aside from being stuck in the girl's bathroom for some reason none of them understood, his face was contorted in pure disgust.

"You wanna know about the dream, right?" She asked.

"Yeah, yeah. Go on." He replied, annoyed.

"Okay, so those dudes are killers. Complete with the killer handkerchiefs and killer briefcases and probably killer documents that are just pure evil!" She declared, telling the truth.

However, the five just looked at her. Had she completely lost her mind? Next thing they know…There might be killer chocolate.

The door suddenly opened, revealing a man in a suit; one of the ten men. He slowly glanced and inspected the bathroom. Luckily, he was too stupid to realize that there were five hiding teens inside. As he left, the five noticed an old lady slumped on the floor. There was a black pen beside her, and blood was oozing from her neck.

"See?" Said Rye. She had just proven to them that she wasn't insane. The four were speechless. If their eyes could fall off… they'd be long gone by now.

"There is no way," Started Nina.

"Absolutely no way," Added Kaye.

"We'd be able to go against that." Finished Fine.

"Come on, don't be cowards," Said Ryou. "If you all stopped looking totally mortified and blown away, we can get out of here. Plus, look at the bright side,"

"What, Mr. Optimistic?" Asked Rye.

"I can finally have my pride back…stuck in the girl's bathroom," She smirked.

"If we move fast enough…We could get there before she does." That was all he needed to say for the girls to storm off the bathroom, nearly leaving the boy behind.

They ate breakfast quickly in the diner of their hotel, making sure that no one was after them. Ryou told them that they had to walk to a specific part of the Skogur forest.

"Are we there yet?" Asked Kaye.

"No."

_..five minutes.._

"Are we there yet?"

"No."

_..five minutes.._

"Are we there yet?"

"If you're mission is to annoy us, well, you have."

_..one minute.._

"ARE WE THERE YET?"

"No. And maybe you'll never be." Someone else answered. They turned around to face Abel, holding daggers, ready to shoot.

Truth is, he never got the chance to. He was instantly vaporized by an energized Rye.

Kaye glared, threatening to hurt her.

"He wasn't worth it. Red eyes, remember? Don't tell me that you wanted him too much that you forgot that." She said.

Kaye was silent until they stopped in front of a huge tree. Ryou looked pleased.

"No. This can't be happening all over again!" Said Fine.

"WHAT? Did you have one of those dreams with us dying again, or ones with you falling off trees or something?" Asked Ryou. Fine looked mortified.

"Nope," Said Kaye. "She's just getting tired of being our sandman." They grinned.

Nina started climbing the tree. Ryou looked at her with disbelief.

"What?" She asked. "We can't just stand and do nothing!"

"Exactly. Don't you think I'm much better than standing? Hello portal." He answered.

Ryou got the crystals from their bags. They stared at him, ready to pounce as if they were in a fight. They stared at his eyes.

"I'm not gonna run and go crazy here," He said. "Don't worry, we'll be fine. If someone doesn't land somewhere else again…" He smirked.

He grabbed the crystals, making marks and swirls at the trunk of the tree using the crystals.

"ARE YOU KIDDING US? WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" Exclaimed the four.

"Making a portal." He answered simply.

The marks and swirls began to glow in different colors, opening a portal.

"Shall we?" He asked.


	27. Chapter 27 Stolen!

They all emerged from a palm tree on another island, _Spiegare. _They emerged one by one, landing on top of each other, they were like a human stack of pillows. Luckily, no one was around to see them, it was still too early for some folk who had nothing to do with this mission, _lucky them…_ Rye thought.

"So, how much time do we have until midnight?" Nina asked as she dusted sand off her clothes.

"Fifteen hours more." Ryou said as he helped Rye up…

Now _this, _was a good time to smirk, which all the three happily did.

"I think we should make camp near the cave." Fine suggested. They all agreed, they wanted to make sure they were the first ones to enter that cave, the ones who make it out successfully.

"What do you guys wanna do for fourteen more hours?" Nina asked. The hike to the cave was long, but it wasn't that long to occupy so much of their time. It was only a one hour trek. Now, they were left to suffer boredom, isolation and probably hunger…

"How 'bout some truth or dare?" Fine suggested. They all hesitated for a moment, especially Ryou. These are _girls_ he'd be playing with… What if they come up with something sneaky? Something to make him reveal what shouldn't be, or at least what he didn't want to be revealed… But in the end, he agreed and join them in a circle.

"Rye," Kaye said. "Truth, or dare?" She said that as if it her life would depend on what her choice would be.

"Truth." Rye replied simply. She wasn't in the mood to do any dare. But as she heard Kaye's question, she would exchange it for dare any time of her life…

"How do you really feel about Ryou?" She had a triumphant look on her face. Fine and Nina were smug, going 'oooooh!'

"What? What kind of question is that! I change my mind! Dare!"

Kaye considered this for a minute.

"Okay fine," Kaye agreed. Rye gave a sigh of relief. "Kiss Ryou."

"On the lips!" Nina continued for Kaye.

Rye glared at them, Ryou buried his face in his hands, as if that would shield him from what was to come.

"Can't you give another one?" She pleaded. Kaye shook her head, she looked _really_ triumphant now, there was no way out of this. In truth, she didn't mind the 'kiss Ryou part', she minded because they were there, in plain view of Kaye, Nina and Fine… She thought and thought, looking for a loophole somewhere, but none appeared. She sighed again, she turned to Ryou, he had a weak smile on his face.

"Wooo!" The three cheered as Rye's lips met Ryou's. Unlike the one in Iceland, this lasted only a second. Rye hid her face behind her hands, but she could still feel Fine and Nina's gazes.

"All right Ryou, since you were the victim here, you get to go next." Kaye said. Rye removed her face from her hands. She wanted to argue, _she _was the victim _not him._ But thought this was a childish thing to argue about, so she played along.

"Kaye," he said, Kaye didn't look shocked, she was expecting this. "Truth or dare?"

"Truth." Kaye said simply.

"Tell us about Abel. Everything about Abel. It should be everything, if you don't we'll…" he paused as he thought. "We'll throw away all your Manga."

Kaye looked mortified. _All her Manga?_ Kaye wasn't even given the chance to think whether or not to ask for a dare instead, Ten Men had invaded their camp, and surrounded them in a flash. They stood up and faced them. It was a good two on one. Nina saw one Ten Man's hand move to his briefcase, she turned on him, forced his shadow to attack its owner, seconds later, the Ten Man was on the floor, his breathing had stopped.

The other Ten Men looked unfazed, as if this were something they see everyday. "Very quick, little kiddies," one of the Ten Men said, the five turned to him at once.

"But not quick enough." The Ten Man on the other side of the circle said. He had a stapler in his hand, it looked like an ordinary stapler alright. He aimed at Nina, pressed it once and immediately, almost 50 staple wires came firing at her. They all had to dodge to avoid getting cut.

"That was just a taste of what we can do to you if you don't cooperate," the same Ten Man said. "If you give us all your crystals now, we promise we'll leave, no one scarred, no one hurt, just give us the crystals and we'll go." The Ten Man held out his hand, as if expecting the _children _would give up without a fight.

"How about we make _you _a deal," Ryou said. The Ten Men burst out laughing. "We do not make deals with foolish children. But this will be amusing entertainment, go on." The same Ten Man said.

"Leave, leaving the crystals with us, and none of you ends up like him." He pointed at the Ten Man on the ground. They laughed even harder, the Ten Man who seemed to be their leader laughed the loudest, the hardest and the longest. It was pretty obvious he was the leader, he was the biggest, the toughest looking, the fattest, and he did most of the jibber-jabber. "We have made an offer, but it seems you choose to disagree with it. We'll have to take your crystals by _force._" The Ten Men burst laughing again at the last word. Surely they couldn't believe five teens would be such a burden, they were wrong. In a flash, another Ten Man was knocked unconscious to the ground, Rye had used her Necro Vision. The Ten Man said no more. He reached out for his briefcase, the others doing the same, some, reaching for their ties.

Shards were flying here and there, the sounds of whips being lashed drowned the sound of all the screams, an explosion came where a Ten Man had placed a Calculator-Bomb, only causing his fellow Ten Men their early deaths. Laser Beams, going here and there, random animals appearing out of no where, Ten Men punching their own faces, strong wind sending everyone except Kaye flying. It was not a pretty sight. The Ten Men put up quite a fight, but the children put up even more. They fought, unscarred until there was only one Ten Man left. He looked at them, one by one as if sizing them up, or down. He turned on the spot, and vanished.

The five collapsed to the ground, the Ten Men tired them. They may have won, but it took a lot of effort.

At least the battle had made time pass faster, for when they checked the time, it was already 3pm. Yes, the battle took long, they tired their powers, they needed rest.

Luckily, Fine had charged her Samsung Corby in the hotel in Iceland, so she could set an alarm off at 11:55pm. They woke up, fully rested and energized. They waited at the mouth of the cave.

"Merry Christmas." They said in unison, rather robotically when the cave had opened up. It was a spectacular view inside, nothing like an ordinary cave. The walls and ceilings were made out of clear crystal, the ground, pure marble like of Katsa's castle.

"So, what does the Chiaramante crystal look like again?" Nina asked.

"Crystal clear." Ryou said simply. They went deeper into the cave, to Fine's frustration, there wasn't any signal in there.

"Did you hear that?" Kaye asked. The four nodded. They had heard screams, screams from other humans, or _ghosts._

"Probably nothing. Maybe an enchantment to scare people off." Rye suggested.

But as they went deeper, the voices became louder, their words were clearer now, _HELP._

They squinted their eyes and looked around, looking for the source of the voice. They were about to give up, to leave whatever that poor soul was behind.

"I hear something on the other side!" Kaye said, her ear was pressed to what looked like a giant diamond. They went to her side, they could hear people from the other side too.

"HELP! GET US OUT OF HERE? IS ANYONE THERE!" A frantic voice called from the other side of the diamond.

"Who are you?" Rye replied to the unseen girl.

"Let us out so we can explain!" Another voice replied. It was different now, but still a girl.

"How could we know we can trust you?" Ryou asked. There was a pause, complete silence engulfed the room.

"Ryou, is it?" A girl from the other side asked, Ryou got wide eyed, they all did. "You can trust us because we worked for Dumbledore too." She said simply.

"Yes, Rye. We were the ones who were sent before you." They all turned to Rye. The girl had answered her unasked question. She had only thought of it.

"How can we know we can trust you?" Ryou repeated. They heard them sigh on the other side.

"Let us out, we'll prove you by not attacking you all!" She sounded desperate. They all stood back as they fired at the giant diamond. It burst to pieces. Three girls emerged from a passageway on the other end. One with curly hair, one with pixie-like hair, and one who went jumping to Fine as soon as the crystal burst.

"DO YOU HAVE CHOCOLATE! DO YOU! DO YOU!" The girl looked nuts. Fine took a step forward. "N-n-no ma'am." She said.

"Abby, calm down." The girl with pixie hair shouted. 'Abby' rolled her eyes and walked to the other girls' sides. They all stared at each other for about a minute, not knowing what to say or do.

"I am Mae by the way," the curly haired girl said. "This is Alena," she pointed to the pixie haired girl, she waved at them, they waved back unsurely. "And, well, you must have met Abby by now."

They looked at the girl at the right, she was jumping up and down right now.

"Thanks for rescuing us by the way, we've been trapped there for years!" Alena said.

"But enough about that, I'm sure you five are here for the fifth crystal?" Trish asked them. They nodded their reply.

"Well, it's not far from here anymore. You move through that passage in the middle, then turn right then—Abby will you stop jumping?"

Abby stopped jumping, but switched to turning on the spot. They thought she would stop sooner or later, but she didn't.

"Listen, we need a lot of help." Nina said, she didn't know where this was going, but it was worth the try… "And I- we were wondering if you could-."

"come with you all?" Alena continued her sentence for her. Nina nodded. The four turned to look at her. They just met these people, what if they were minions. Almost automatically, they checked their eyes, they weren't red, it was safe. In the end, they ended up traveling long passageways together.

Ryou sighed, _great, still the only guy. Tough luck…_ He thought to himself. Abby, Mae and Alena smiled, Ryou blushed. He was getting annoyed by all the mind reading going on these days, nothing was private anymore.

"Here's where we come to a stop." Abby said, she was finally talking. They bumped into each other, but they were so used to this nowadays it didn't even bother them that much anymore. Alena nodded at Ryou, signaling him to move forward.

He looked straight, he can see the crystal right in front of him. He moved closer, cautiously, waiting for anything wrong to happen, nothing came. He took a step closer, he was within arm's reach of the crystal now, he inched forward, still, nothing unusual happened. He touched the crystal with a finger, nothing happened, he placed his whole hand on the crystal, nothing happened, he removed the crystal from the stand, _something happened._

The walls and ceiling were shaking, it was a booby trap. He stared at the girls, taken aback by what happened.

"RUN!" Mae's voice broke the trance, they didn't need telling twice, they retraced their steps, as fast as they could, the walls and ceiling were collapsing behind them. The five were in front, Abby, Alena and Mae at the back.

They reached the entrance, or the exit just in time. The mouth of the cave closed as Abby stepped out, it was sunrise. They all looked mortified.

"WOOOOOO!" They all screamed together.

"THAT- WAS- AWESOME!" Kaye exclaimed as she high-fived practically everyone, but when she turned to face Rye, her face was blank. She was staring at the distance, her eyes unfocused.

"Rye," Kaye shook her. "What's up."

Alena look like a bulldozer just run over her.

"The fire crystal was stolen," she said, they all looked at her. "the Ten Man, he took it during battle."


	28. Chapter 28 Ten Men Headquarters

One gained, one lost. Doesn't really make their situation any better. Rye looked hopeless.

"Hey…" Ryou said, trying to comfort Rye. "Doesn't mean we can't get it back."

"Exactly!" Said the others, trying to cheer her up. They received a sad smile from Rye.

"Right," She said. "Whatever it takes." _Even if it takes my life. We'll get it, sure…if I make it. _Ryou held her hand, guiding her as they walked. She was shivering, harder than usual, and she kept on tripping.

"You okay?" Asked Ryou. The others looked concerned too.

"Yeah, everything's fine. Just overused my element." She said, trying to reassure and convince them. And herself.

They came back to where they camped. Mae and the rest had wood, Rye would start a fire. Rye closed her eyes and waited for the fire to light the wood, she concentrated. She opened her eyes. There was still no fire. The others were quite surprised as well, as they knew that Rye had total control of her element…or, they used to think so.

"Don't worry. I'm just tired and all, from battle." A few more minutes of deep concentration, her eyes shut tightly… a fire appeared, strong, but not as strong as her fires before.

It was the 25th of December. Christmas already. Ryou and the rest were awake, talking about the missing Fire crystal. Rye was still asleep, and it was already noon. They had already eaten lunch. Abby began to worry.

"Are you sure that she's fine?" Asked Abby. "Come on, look at her! She looks paler than a sheet of paper!"

They began to notice that to, she had gotten weaker, in just a matter of hours. They had to go now, Kaye and Mae had information on the Fire crystal's whereabouts. They couldn't go without Rye though, only she could get the crystal. It would only be safe in her hands.

Ryou tried to get Rye to eat. All she did was to shake her head and fall back to sleep. They knew she didn't have an eating disorder, or stomach cancer.

"We can't stay any longer." Said Alena sadly.

"We have to leave and search," Added Mae. "We'll just have to carry her."

Ryou took Rye into his arms, surprised on how light she was. She didn't move at all.

It was an uneventful day for them, except for when Rye woke up.

"How long was I asleep?" She asked.

"Not as long as a hundred years, Sleeping Beauty." Answered Alena. Rye's eyes widened. She was asleep the whole time they were walking?

"No. Way." She couldn't believe it. "Did anything happen?" She asked anxiously.

"Nothing, nothing." Answered Mae.

After a while, Rye could already walk. If you'd call tripping every five steps on flat surfaces walking, that is. They were in the middle of the forest, and they could see a faint outline of a building. Yes, a building in the middle of nowhere.

There was a symbol outside. It was a shining black briefcase, edges sharp, as if made to inflict pain on somebody. Below it, there was a word. Höfuðstöðvar. Headquarters. They were there. Mae was sure that Sasha wasn't there. She didn't like spending Christmas in a forest, she would've preferred in her lair surrounded by Gucci handbags and all… or torturing the hell out of people, just for kicks.

"We're here." Alena announced, as they hid behind the huge tree. They were all alert, especially Ryou, holding Rye who seemed to have fallen asleep again along the way.

"Wake her up." Instructed Nina. Ryou poked and pinched her, she still didn't stir. Mae came closer.

"Rye, we're here." Rye's head snapped up. That's all it took.

Ryou wondered if the girls could've been hiding something from him, but at times when he was clueless, they were clueless too. Using Abby's power, they blended into their surroundings. They entered the building quietly, letting their guard down, as they thought that they were alone. One of the Ten Men was assigned to patrol around the building, and he caught sight of the eight. The rest of the Ten Men were alerted via cell phone, they were all on speed dial. They rushed to the vault at once, together with their office supplies—or weapons.

Mae was able to crack the code, all that was needed to do was for Rye to step in and grab the crystal. As Rye stepped in, she fell backwards unto the floor. The eight turned around, and came face to face with the Ten Men—or your worse business nightmares. They say business is better motivated by fear…guess they've never gone against this.

Nina threw glass shards at the Men, which were repelled by their documents, acting as shields. But those wouldn't protect them. Nina had channeled all her fury, angst and frustration into her powers. That would leave a tear on their expensive designer suits.

Animals were pouncing here and there, tearing at the Men's weapons and skin… even if their skin was like steel. All furniture went crashing down on the Men, thanks to Kaye. And no, they weren't paying for any of it. The Men couldn't dodge her attacks, and it as if they were compelled do just stand below a falling chandelier, with Ryou's help. He couldn't help much though; his powers were mostly for protecting himself. Mae, Abby and Alena were with Rye, trying to open the Fire crystal's case. The Ten Men were down. At least most of them were. Just as Rye got her hands on the crystal, a sharp pencil went flying into the hair, hitting her, causing her to fall back, crystal in hands. She was already too weak, and blood was flowing out of her wounds. They had successfully defeated the Ten Men, but Rye was severely wounded. Her crystal was being corrupted when they weren't there… and she was tied to her crystal. Her limp body fell into Ryou's arms.

"Go." She whispered, offering him the Fire crystal.


	29. Chapter 29 Crystal Doors

"We're not leaving anyone behind." Abby said, not even letting Ryou speak his own words.

"We're going back to headquarters," Alena said, she motioned everyone to form another circle. Ryou, carrying Rye in his arms, Nina and Kaye held onto his shoulders, to make sure he'd teleport with them.

They were finally going back to headquarters, they were finally- _why are they heading back to headquarters?_

"Hey wait why—." But before Kaye could finish her question, she scene shifted before their very eyes. Everything came to a blur, the background changed, they were back. Their entrance must have caused a lot of commotion, for they were there only for five seconds and Aina and Darah had appeared in the door way, both wide eyed. They glanced at Fine and the four, then turned their attention to Abby, Mae and Alena.

They stepped closer to them, then without warning, pulled the three into a tight hug.

"You three, you're alive!" Aina said through tears.

"It's been two years. How did you ever live?" Darah asked. They tried to free themselves from their grasp, there would be time for catching up later, right now, Rye was still bleeding freely.

"They got the five crystals," Mae said as they freed themselves from Aina and Darah. "But not without coming across trouble." They turned their attention to Rye. Aina and Darah stepped forward immediately, no word was mentioned as they carried Rye out of the room and into the infirmary, leaving her crystal behind with Ryou. Just then, Dumbledore came in, as he saw Abby, Alena and Aina, he smiled and nodded, he did the same to the four.

"You may go to your rooms and rest for now," he said addressing Kaye, Ryou, Fine and Nina. "Right now I need to have a word with you three-, oh and Abigail, there is some chocolate in the other room if you would-." Abby didn't wait for the sentence to be completed, she barged out of the room in a second, came back in a second, cradling an arm full of chocolate. Dumbledore issued the others to go to their rooms, they went hesitantly, they wanted to listen in, they wanted to know what was so important, why they couldn't stay but most of all, they wanted to visit Rye. But they were too tired to argue, before they knew it, they were in front of the doors to their rooms, the very rooms where they first spent, training here. Where they first discovered they were different, it seemed like such a long time ago now.

One thing was stuck in all of their minds, _why were they here? Sasha could be out, looking for the final crystal, no, not could, she _is. _Why aren't they doing anything about it?_

Their thoughts quickly shifted into dreams, they fell asleep as soon as they hit their beds.

They woke up the next morning, not early, but not late. It was only nine am. They decided to sit by Rye's bed in the infirmary, wait for her to wake up at least until lunch time.

"So why do you think we're back here?" Fine asked. Awkwardly, Fine was sitting beside Ryou on the right side of Rye's bed, Nina and Kaye on the other side.

"Maybe we're going to undergo more training," Nina guessed. "You know, to make sure we're ready to face Sasha."

Rye was stirring, she slowly opened her eyes and looked at each of them, one by one, stopping last at Ryou. She took a deep breath, and fell back asleep.

"What if Rye's not well by the time we're going to leave?"

They were eating in the dining room, it was lunch time. They ate in silence, Rye was still in the infirmary. She was asleep the whole time the four were there. She only stirred once or twice, that was it. Ryou had given the fire crystal to Abby, Mae and Alena, along with the other crystals. Dumbledore cleared his throat.

"I suppose you four are wondering why you are back here." He said, addressing Nina, Ryou, Fine and Kaye. They nodded, they wanted to know. They stopped eating and focused on what Dumbledore had to say next.

"There has been a change of plans – no, let me finish explaining first," he said as he saw Kaye's mouth open. "As you can see, we are joined by three more of my former recruits," he said, now addressing Abby, Alena and Mae. They nodded again.

"And there is only one more crystal, am I correct?" The four nodded once more. "And you don't know the whereabouts of this one, am I right?" They nodded, their necks were starting to ache from all the nodding.

"That is because," the children leaned in closer. "You will not be able to retrieve it."

They stared at him, lost for words. _Not be able to retrieve it? How are they going to beat Sasha now?_ Dumbledore saw the confused looks on their faces, and explained further.

"I did say something about you five not being able to get it," he began. "But I didn't say anything about Mae, Alena and Abby not being able to get the crystal." He paused.

"So they're going with us?" Nina asked.

Dumbledore chuckled. "No, children," they looked more confused now, if they weren't going with them, how are they to stop Sasha? "They, are going with out you." He said. Their mouths stayed open, shocked. So this is it, this is where it ended? Rye in the infirmary, others continuing their mission for them?

"I must admit, this was my first plan. You five would get the first five crystals, and then I, along with Aina and Darah would get the last," he paused again, "you were never to face Sasha in the first place, it is much too dangerous."

"But we've faced her before!" Nina argued.

"No, Nina. Those were merely her minions, Ten Men and demons. Sasha is a hundred times worse than those two put together." Aina said.

"But we can handle it!" Fine complained.

"I will not risk any of you getting into more danger." Dumbledore said, his voice sounded stern.

"But this is not fair!" Ryou complained. "Alena, Mae and Abby are only what, one or two years older than me! How come I can't come?" Ryou argued childishly. Kaye kicked him from under the table, they wanted to come as much as he did.

"They have more experience than you, their powers are more developed!" Darah put in. The four were losing the battle, this would really be the end then.

"But they were stuck in a cave for _two_ years!" Nina argued, which backfired on her immediately.

"And they _survived _those two years!" Aina said.

This lunch wasn't gonna end pretty. Everyone was talking at the same now, everyone was standing up, arguing to the person who dared deny their logic. Dumbledore took a deep breath. They fell silent, they sat back down again.

"That is enough arguing," he said loudly. "I know I am soon to regret this decision." He paused. They looked at Dumbledore. They knew what was coming, they didn't believe it, even the four didn't believe it. "But, you four may help Abby, Mae and Alena." He closed his eyes. The children cheered.

"WHAT!" Abby, Mae, Alena, Aina and Darah said in unison as they stood up.

Just then Rye came into the room, she looked tired, but she was strong enough to stand up and walk. Ryou came to her aid, hugged her tight.  
"Not too tight, can't breathe. Still hurts." She said, and Ryou immediately let go. They sat back at the dining table to let Rye eat, and to hear more of what Dumbledore has to say.

"I know what you are thinking, Darah," he said, his eyes still closed. "But you two have said so yourself, you've seen this five in battle, I have seen them in training with my very own eyes." The five grew more anxious now, they had won the battle, they were going to Elantya with Abby, Mae and Alena, whether they liked it or not.

"_And,_" he added as soon as Aina opened her mouth to protest. "I am sure Mae, Abby and Alena need all the help they could get, isn't that right?" He eyed the three, as if saying nod or else. They hesitantly nodded.

"Then it is settled," he finally said. "The eight of you are to leave in search of the next crystal tomorrow morning, before the sun comes out." The four jumped up and cheered, though it seemed ironic, they were cheering because they would face their own deaths soon. Rye just stared at them, she still had no clue of what was going on.

"We'll explain later." Nina said to Rye as they sat back down, continuing their supposedly calm lunch.

They spent the afternoon in Rye and Ryou's room with Abby, Alena and Mae. Rye was asleep in her bed, she needed a lot of energy for what they were to face, and where they were to go.

"So where is this crystal located exactly?" Fine asked as they gathered around on the floor of the room. The three looked at each other, as if they didn't even want to say the name of the place, as if it had a taboo…

"Well," Alena began hesitantly. "The fondamentale crystal is located…" she trailed off…

"Is located?" The four asked.

"…is located in Sasha's thoughts!" Mae blurted out in one breath. The four stared at them, not really understanding what they were saying. _In Sasha's thoughts? Then the crystal is only a part of her imagination?_ Kaye thought to herself.

"No, it is not only part of her imagination." Alena said. "It is put their, because Sasha is the one who owns it."

"How are we gonna get it then?" Ryou asked, this was all bizarre. "It's not like we can enter her mind or something!" He said, waving his hands in the air, he resembled a monkey reaching up to a banana in a tree… The three looked at each other again.

"If you think that, then I am sure you haven't fully explored headquarters." Abby said. Of course they didn't fully explore headquarters, there wasn't even time.

"There is this room, with crystals similar to these," Alena said, indicating the crystals in the middle of their circle. "When people, specifically children with the elements, step into the room, the crystals will light, will charge up, and open a portal."

"That portal, leading into her mind, _Sasha's _mind." Mae continued for Abby.

"Wait," Fine said, she wasn't quite getting all this. "So if we enter Sasha's mind she'll be able to see us, right?"

"Yes, and she can think of anything, any creature, any trap, anything she wants to appear out of no where, anything to stop us form getting the crystal." Alena explained. The children gulped, they didn't dare think of what lays in store for them in Sasha's thoughts…

"When we enter the portal, we're part of her thoughts now too, right?" Nina asked, she regretted asking immediately when she heard the answer.

"Yes, so she can do anything to us as well, cut us up, slice us in half, burn us, turn us into monkeys." Mae explained.

They soon regretted the argument they had made with Dumbledore at lunch. This didn't seem much of a joy ride… They sat in silence for a minute, absorbing what Abby, Mae and Alena had just told them. That they would soon be entering someone's diabolical mind.

"That is why we need to move quick," Mae said to break the silence, "if something goes wrong, if any of us dies, you five have to swear, you will keep looking, no turning back, get the crystal, and _get out._".

That didn't really cheer them up much. That made them feel worse, what if someone did die? The three had just recently seen their first sunlight in two years, and now, they were going to face their own deaths.

In the remaining hours, Abby, Alena and Mae taught them how to open and close the portal, in case they wouldn't make it out with them. They would have to close the portal immediately after they enter, or some of Sasha's thoughts might materialize into real things, they didn't want that to happen.

By dinner time, Rye had fully recovered and the others had filled her in. She nearly fainted as Ryou gave her the last details of their next task. They ate dinner in deadly silence. Tomorrow they would leave the safety of headquarters again, taking its place, would be the mind of their very own enemy.

They woke up next morning, fully rested, prepared for the day ahead of them. They headed to the crystal room Abby was talking about. They entered, the five were again, wide eyed. The room resembled the cave in so many ways, the walls were lined with crystals, the ceiling, like the dining room's, enchanted to mimic the sky outside. Five crystals were set in a circle, slowly, they started to glow. One glowed red, the other ocean blue, the other green, the other sky blue and the last, crystal clear but glowing as bright as the others.

A portal had appeared in the middle of the room, they took a deep breath, stepped forward, and entered the mind of Sasha, closing their door back to safety behind them.


	30. Chapter 30 Finding Fondamentale

They held they're breath, not knowing what to expect. This time, they didn't land on top of each other. They were all dizzy, one step in and they were already whirling around like tornadoes. Closing their eyes, they hoped for the best; to come in whole and come out whole with the last crystal. Fondamentale.

Sasha's thoughts were like a maze. Mae looked around. She couldn't see anyone. Maybe she had gone somewhere else? She began to walk and worry. She looked around. She was in a long hallway that seemed to end nowhere. There were doors, but every second or so, they faded. She decided to try the door on her right, that didn't fade no matter what. As she opened the door, blades flew in every direction, and she came face to face with furious boggart. Mae predicted each and every move of the boggart. It flashed from her parents dying. Nina dying, Pat dying, Kaye dying…You get it. Everyone she loved being tortured to death. But the boggart was no match for her. She had blocked all its senses and made it die a slow, painless death. Hard to believe that she had mercy to make its death painless.

Rye had landed into a forest. Sasha's thoughts may be more complicated than they thought. The forest was dark, trees were growing unusually big. She couldn't see anything, and the roots of the trees prevented her from running fast. She had a special blade with her, cutting through the vines and running in a steady pace. She was determined to find the end…until she was now in front of ten dragons, worse than the first time she fought a monster. Rye dodged the fire attacks. The Hungarian Horntail would be hard to beat. First, it has those really huge jaws that could compare you to crackers, not to mention it being terribly huge, and…it smelled bad. Really bad. Its tail gave her marks all over, but she was strong enough to burn part of the dragon. After ten minutes, ten Rye's were able to create grilled dragons.

Abby had entered a door that looked like an entrance to an exhibit. Skillful drawings were scattered on the floor. She had noticed that none of them were beautiful, they all looked bloody and gruesome. Curiously, she picked one up. The paper began to burn, the eyes of the creature glowing. Abby took a step back, preparing for the creature's blow that was sure to come. By the time Abby fought the living drawings, there were only ten left of the thickly stacked piles. Soon, there was only one left. That was because she was able to talk about the most useless things in life, then the creatures began to hit themselves like crazy. Abby had all their powers and was using it against them.

Nina gazed at her surroundings. She was in a forest too, but her forest was more green than grey, and it was dark and cold. The place seemed to show no signs of other life. A cold feeling soon came upon Nina. She walked faster and faster. All she wanted to do was get away from this creepy place. She thought she saw a figure approaching. She looked harder as she saw a creature in a black cloak with hands of an old lady. She gasped as she realized what was ahead. She quickly summoned her patronus, thinking of all the happiest thoughts in life. It took a long time though, for the dementor to start gliding away. As soon as the dementor was far enough, Nina ran for her life.

Ryou turned around and saw that he was in a cave. This cave, however, was different from the cave they went in to retrieve his crystal. This one reeked with a horrible scent. He pinched his nose as he inched forward, towards the light. Little did he know that the light came from the back of the cave, and it was ready to grill him alive. What would he do now? His powers were rendered useless by the simplest of things, which was fire. The fire wasn't in the cave though, it was behind the wall. He had other things to worry about. There was a hungry pack of wolves in the cave…and based on what he knew, they had keen senses, so much for his invisibility. The cave was high, and he could jump part by part. The wolves ended up knocking each other out. He smirked. As he got to the end of the cave, he realized that it was a dead end.

Kaye was up high, somewhere rocky, probably on a mountain. The sun was scorching hot, emitting heat and maybe those totally unhealthy ultraviolet rays too. She started to walk around, making a breeze come upon her and the rocks blocking her way move away. Before her, there was this huge rock, shaped like a giant man. She tried moving it, yet it wouldn't budge. Suddenly, the ground began to shake. The man made of stone began to move. She summoned winds, hitting and smashing the stone man. She pushed him against the mountain breaking him into little pieces. The smile on her face quickly turned into a frown as soon as she knew that the mountain was crumbling down.

Fine was lying on the grass. To her it seemed like a peaceful day. That was, until she heard the sound of hooves and the ground shaking. She immediately got up and ran for her life, seeing the armies of rampaging bulls. She hugged the tree for her dear life. If it were only one bull, it wouldn't be much of a problem. Unfortunately, it was definitely more than one. The tree she was on began to shake. A little bit more and she would tip over. Fine landed on the ground gracefully. Groups and group of bears, lions, tigers and leopards appeared behind her. She grinned. The bears mauled all the bulls, lions tearing them apart. She'd be looking for the way out.

Alena practically stepped into a comic book. Weird looking freaky people surrounding her everywhere like villains. They all had this manic glint in there eyes. As they came closer slowly, Alena prepared to run, open the door at the end of the hall and do something crazy like jump off the windows. She opened the door, only to find herself falling into one of their traps. She opened her eyes to a strange place, filled with strange people. A man grinned deviously at her, he looked like he was going to attend one of those cosplay conventions. He stated aiming arrows at her, coming closer and closer. One had hit her. She stopped and pulled it out with all her might. The man looked surprised. She flung it at him, hitting him square at the face. The man shook, hair standing and all. He was being electrocuted by Alena.

The eight ran and ran through a maze-like place. They didn't see where they were going until they bumped into someone. Rye was ready to attack when she saw someone in front of her, who looked equally surprised. Ryou got out of the cave, as soon as he figured out that one of the walls were fake. It led him to the maze. Soon, there were more people with them. Kaye, Nina, Fine, Abby, Mae and Alena had gotten into the middle of the maze too. Once they got up, they realize that something glowed in the middle of the maze. There lay the Fondamentale crystal, right in front of them. As Mae, Abby and Alena reached to get it… A projection of Sasha appeared.


	31. Chapter 31 Elantya

Rye tried to use Necro Vision, but it was no use, the beam just passed through the projection. There was no way to harm Sasha, at least not in her thoughts. The projection of Sasha smirked.

"Very clever," she said in a mocking tone. The eight glared at her. "Don't you dare use Sensikenesis on me, Mae. I know everything that's going on, I know what moves you plan to make next, this, is _my _mind." She stared at them triumphantly. They had nothing to do, they were trapped. They tried to clear their own minds, they wouldn't allow the secrets of Dumbledore's plan to be revealed. Suddenly, a bowl of sweets appeared right in front of Abby. Her face lightened up, she extended one arm, grabbed a mouthful of gumdrops before any of them could stop her. Her nose was morphing from a pig's snout, to an elephant trunk, to a duck bill and then back to her normal nose.

"That is just a taste of what I can do to you," she said as they turned their attention back to her. So this is how it ends, them, trapped in Sasha's own thoughts, forever. Sasha was standing- _was_ standing right there, now, she's gone. They turned on the spot, looking left, right, down and _up._ She was hanging from the ceiling, staring at them all, she looked even more diabolical from that angle, more mad from that angle, then they noticed why. They were instantly surrounded by inferi, they were entering from everywhere, from the ceilings, from the doors, even from the floor.

They tried everything, Mae, obliterating inferi here and there, replacing them with… bunny rabbits. _Chocolate _bunny rabbits, which Abby happily ate. Rye concentrating hard on making a ring of fire to separate them from the inferi. They were scratched once or twice, but none more than that. When the last inferi dropped to the ground, they looked up, Sasha wasn't there anymore. They looked around, only to see Alena, eyes closed, deep in concentration, but she could still talk. When she talked, it was scary, her voice, her intentions were changing from Alena's to Sasha's.

"GO!" Alena's voice said. "Take the crystal, I can hold her long enough—Run and you die!—I'll meet you guys at the other side—dare to touch my crystal and you shall suffer eternal pain!" Her eyes opened, white light replaced the dark brown eyes of Alena. Her mouth was open, they stood there, gaping at her. Abby broke away from the group and grabbed the Fondamentale crystal. As soon as Abby had a good distance from Alena/Sasha, Mae shook Alena back to herself, the projection of Sasha exited through her mouth, Alena coughed. She probably didn't taste that good. They made a run for it. Abby was a good 10 feet ahead of Alena and the rest, Sasha was only behind by 5. Abby opened the portal, waiting impatiently for the others. Shee moved the clear crystal away from the circle in the room, just in time, the projection Sasha was an inch away from getting to the portal. It closed, they all collapsed to the ground, their bodies were aching, Alena's mind felt like it was about to burst. Abby held the Fondamentale crystal close to her, as if it were her own child…

The five sat in a circle in Kaye and Nina's room. They have given all the six crystals for Dumbledore to examine. Again, he agreed for them to come to Elantya with Abby, Mae and Alena.

"I'm not so piped up about the idea of going to Elantya anymore," Fine said, breaking the silence between them all.

"Me either," Rye admitted. Ryou looked at her, as if not believing those words had actually come out of Rye's mouth. She shrugged.

"You saw what happened back there, and Dumbledore said Elantya would be worse. What if something goes wrong? What if…" Her voice trailed away, she didn't want to talk about deaths right now.

"It's not going to happen." Ryou reassured them.

"Yeah, but what _if._" Kaye argued.

"Well, then at least we lived useful lives, I'm sure we must've killed Sasha before we'd all collapse on the floor." They glared at him.

"Wow, that lightens our burden sooo much." Nina said sarcastically.

They sat there in even more silence, the silence was overwhelming. They hit the bed at 10pm, they just had nothing better to do.

Nina lay in her bed, motionless, lost in deep thoughts. She thought about what was going on at home right now, how her parents felt that she was missing for almost two weeks now, not even leaving a hint of where she went. She thought of her friends, how'd they be going to school any time soon, and she, she was going to face her doom. No, not the tests kind of doom, it was _doom,_ doom.

Sasha was pacing back and forth in her throne room. She had a throne room, though she wasn't a queen. A blond haired boy now sat in Ramon's old position. He kind of resembled Justin Bieber. He looked as frightened as Ramon the night he was sentenced to the dungeon, to get his soul sucked out of him. Sasha paced back and forth more, her mind was occupied by many things, she had just seen eight teens, wander into her mind, taking the Fondamental crystal with them. _What could they possibly need that crystal for!_ She thought furiously. She sat down onto her throne, her new assistant sitting beside him.

_They couldn't possibly have any use for that unless-._ Her eyes got wide. She sat up in a bolt.

"BRET," she shouted at her assistant. Bret stood up, shaking.

"Ready my armies! Ready the Ten Men! Surround Elantya!" She shouted in a breath. Bret went out running from the throne room, the order rang inside his head.

Half an hour has passed, and Elantya was ready for the arrival of eight teens, prepared as if an army of soldiers were approaching. Ten Men stood in every corner of the castle like hungry wolves. Dementors standing guard outside, Hungarian Horntails perched on top of the castle. Sasha, in the middle of it all, planning their every move.

Dumbledore had planned for them to leave by lunch time, it would be dark then at Elantya. Their discussions at lunch time were a bit graphic. The five lost their appetites after numerous and numerous repeats of how to slay dragons without fire.

"You stick a sword, or perhaps anything pointed or covered with poison up its behind," Darah would say, "Take the time it is in pain to stick up another sword up its throat…"

And it continued on and on. By the end of lunch, even Abby didn't have an appetite for sweets.

The six crystals were arranged in a star formation in the middle of the living room. Nina's, Kaye's, Rye's, Fine's and Ryou's crystals resembled the tips of the star, Abby, Mae and Alena's were at the center. They stood beside their crystal, hands over it. Slowly, the six crystals glowed, rays of light shined from each, completing the shape of the star. They waved goodbye to Dumbledore, Aina and Darah for one last time, and they were gone.

They had only just arrived at Elantya, when they were already surrounded by centaurs, all armed with bows and arrows, all, aiming at each of them.


	32. Chapter 32 Operation Hobo: The Return

They froze. Fine was working fast now, she was summoning all kinds of animals from snakes to tigers and all other stuff. They were dodging the attacks of the centaurs, earning minor scratches and cuts. Nina targeted shards to their direction, never stopping her attack to make sure that the centaurs shields would break and between intervals, powerful blasts were also given to the enemy, credits to her. Fifty Rye's were shooting fire at them, filling the battlefield. At some point, the centaurs shook with electricity, buying time for the eight. Flying cabinets and blades assaulted the centaur, thanks to Abby who was busily perfecting a centaur-eating contraption. The castle's wall came crashing down on the centaurs, causing them to break into runs in different directions. However, they couldn't come close to the eight; they had a protective ring of fire. Mae had replaced the centaurs' arrows with arrows that would hit themselves. The centaurs wouldn't be able to send signs to Sasha anymore, without any of their senses. They knew Sasha would be coming. Alena awaited Ryou's signal, he wasn't joining them in battle, he'd just get hurt. After Ryou gave Alena the sign, she mustered all her power to time-trap the centaurs. They ran to Ryou.

"Cool, so you found a place to hide?" Whispered Rye. He nodded. Mae motioned for them to get in. As they all stepped in…

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" They screamed, including Ryou. They fell into a hole.

They landed on their butts, and it was a miracle that their behinds weren't severely wounded by the fall. Abby looked around. They were in some kind of dungeon. They looked around. The people there looked dirty.

"Gosh…They look the prisoners of Azkaban!" Exclaimed Kaye.

"What on earth do they look like?" Asked Rye, clueless.

"Like hobos." Answered Nina.

A boy made an annoyed sound. He sure looked older, but if you get past the dirt and all, he'd look fine. He was also about their age. He had brown hair.

"Come here!" He said.

"How sure are we that you won't send us to our graves?" Asked Nina.

"I would've already done that."

"Touché. You've got a point."

"Now, all of you! Move before-" Too late. He was suddenly cut off by dementors flocking the dungeon cell that instant. The boy proceeded to hide in the cold, dark corner of the cell. The others noticed that it was growing colder and gloomier every second, happiness seeming to fade away. Nina summoned her patronus. However, one patronus would be useless among an army of dementors. Just as the dementors opened their mouths, Rye had multiplied the number of the patronus three times the number of dementors. Soon, the dementors were all gliding away like little kids scared of clowns.

The boy didn't look surprised at their capabilities. It seemed like he knew them and that they were after Sasha. He had faith in them; they looked strong and determined enough.

"Come closer." He said. They were a bit hesitant, but they followed him.

'There's a hole over here…" He said, pointing at the hole open to the outside world that he managed to hide from the crazy armies of dementors.

"You know where to find her. Come out in one piece." He said as he gave them a small smile. They knew what he meant.

They talked until he said, "Faster! Get out! I know you can drive dementors away, but that was nothing compared to her army of Death Eaters!" They gulped.

"WOAH. DEATH EATERS? NO ONE SAID A WORD ABOUT DEATH EATERS!"

The five were in shock. Mae and the rest looked surprised, but they had better self control.

"Yes," The boy answered. "She's got armies guarding her throne room and a group following her like cute little lost puppies. Except for the fact that they are definitely not cute."

The eight were pale. They just might not be able to make it. Death Eaters would be one hell of a challenge compared to the Ten Men.

He helped them up the hole. Except for Ryou though, he could manage on his own. As the boy helped Nina up, Rye couldn't help but realize that there was something familiar about this boy, as if they had met him before. She had. Maybe she was wrong about him, after all. They didn't even give him a chance to prove himself, and now he was helping them, without hesitation.

As the rest were out already, Rye climbed up the hole. She looked at the boy and smiled at him, showing him that she had found out his identity. He smiled back.

"Good luck." He said, before she went out.

"Thanks. I've got a feeling that we'll need it."


	33. Chapter 33 Avada Kedavra

Luck wasn't really on their side today. Like it was ever on their side…They had only been out for a minute, and they were already surrounded by Ten Men. They were clutching at their briefcases, hands in their pockets, reaching for their handkerchiefs. The five recognized one Ten Man, they all had their eyes on him, the one they encountered before, the leader. He didn't bother to speak this time, he didn't make any offers, he had one thing in mind, get all these eight killed before they even reach the castle.

In one swift movement, the Ten Men got out their deadly office supplies. It was a mess, the battle. Shards, flying here and there, animals appearing out of no where, Ten Men turning into helpless babies thanks to Alena, Abby drawing things in mid air, then materializing into their weapons, Mae summoning lightning bolts, hitting the Ten Men directly in their chests. Office supplies being hurled at them, staple wires, sharpened pencils, a calculator used as a bomb, the sounds of whips being lashed. They were in mid battle, everyone was scratched, everyone was injured, it couldn't possibly get any worse than this, just then, ten Hungarian Horntails came flying out of no where, joining in the already blood bath battle. Ryou had something to do this time, he was controlling three of them, three of the Hungarian Horntails were on their side now. Kaye, using all the energy she could to try to get the other Horntails off course.

It was graphic, they came to the point where the ground was surrounded by dead bodies, both of business men and of dragons. They did it again, they won the battle.

"Finally you found a use in our battle!" Rye screamed at Ryou as they went running for the castle gates. It was a miracle, really that she found something to tease him about at this time…

They were running through tall grass, the grass reached up to their waists. They had to keep a good eye out, who knows what Sasha had in store for them here? They had run across a hippogriff once, but easily sneaked away from it, they were trying to avoid any unnecessary battles for now, they had to save up energy for Sasha.

The guard at the entrance of the castle surprised them, it was only a man, at least they though so. He was wearing a black cloak, a silver mask that covered his whole face. He turned to the eight, he pulled up his sleeve, there was a mark branded on the skin of his arm. They all stared, not wanting to move, they wanted to see what it had to do with anything. The Death Eater put his finger to the skull and snake on his arm, it immediately glowed, the same mark appeared on top of the castle. They understood, the death eater had sent the message to the others, to Sasha, that they have arrived.

Alena stood up from their position, electrocuting the death eater, he lay down on the floor now, motionless. But it did no good, the message was sent, the mark was up, Sasha knows.

"We have to get moving," Alena said as they all stood up, "and fast." They needed no more saying, they charged at the castle. The courtyard of Sasha's castle was exactly what they expected, a death trap. More Inferi emerged from no where, their gray bodies, those lifeless eyes, staring at them. The Inferi were surrounding them, Rye produced a ring of fire, the inferi backed away. But that didn't keep them away for long, one grabbed Fine by the ankle while they were running for the entrance, causing her to land face first on the grass.

"Go on!" she said dramatically as she was pulled into the swarm of inferi.

Kaye hesitated, she turned to Fine, but Alena only pulled her away.

"She will be fine, we'll go back for her after we get Sasha." Alena reassured her, but she didn't seem convinced herself.

They were now in a long hallway. It was dark, the paintings on the walls kept their eyes on the seven as they moved. They ran straight, they could feel Sasha's presence already. They knew where to go, they knew what to do.

They barged into a room, similar to a ball room, only by size. The room had death written all over it, Ten Men, surrounding the room, Death Eaters in front of them, archers, all aiming their arrows at the seven, and on top of it all, Sasha, in the middle of the room, glaring at them all.

They waited, they waited for the battle that didn't come. Instead, Sasha stood there, glaring at them, one by one. They didn't dare make a move, they knew that Sasha had powers they could only dream of. They would be dead in an instant if they made the wrong move. They stared at her as she turned her attention to one of the death eaters.

_Attack when Mae gives the signal._  
The voice of Ryou said in her mind. They stood, breathless as Sasha moved around the room, never taking her eyes off of any of them. She faced them all now, hands crossed.

"Well?" She said, she was teasing them, she was luring them to make the first move. They would not give in, they would wait for Mae's signal, even if it takes forever. Sasha chuckled, an evil chuckle, not one like Dumbledore's.

"I expected you all to put up a fight as you arrived," she said, she looked pleased, in an evil, diabolical way. They just returned her glare, they did not dare speak.

"You have just arrived," she paused, she glanced around the room, "and already, my inferi have captured one of your _kind_." She said that last word as if it were a contagious deadly disease. The door burst open beside them, inferi came walking in, they were carrying a body, the body of Fine, she was unconscious. Rye had the urge to move forward, to kill Sasha on the spot, but Ryou was screaming in her head.

_DON'T MOVE._

They looked at Fine, she was unconscious, but breathing. The inferi places Fine's body to Sasha's feet. She took a glance of Fine, then focused her attention back at the seven, all, moving their eyes from Fine, to Sasha, to Fine, to Sasha…

Rye was getting frustrated, Mae wasn't giving any signal to move yet, she wanted so bad to kick anyone, to kick the death eaters, to kick the inferi who did that to Fine. They just stood there, doing nothing as Sasha bounced Fine's body around the room, covering Fine with bruises by the time she was done entertaining herself.

Rye saw a death eater move in the corner of her eye.

_NOW._

Ryou said in their minds. And immediately, the seven moved for the first time in minutes. The Death Eaters and Ten Men, all came running forward, arrows were being fired here and there. Much to their surprise, the Death Eaters could actually _perform _magic. Spells were being fired blindly around the room, Sasha stood above all the commotion, watching them, she was being entertained.

Nina was battling four death eaters and two dementors at the same time, to her advantage, the room was surrounded with fountains, all filled with water she could control. In no time, the floor of the room was slippery, covered in water and blood. Shards came rushing out of her hand, aiming at the death eaters' chests. Her Patronus, stronger than ever now, fending of the death eaters, making them glide away the second her shark patronus sprang out. The death eaters were dying one by one, until only one was standing in front of her. But of course, there were many more to take the place of the dead, Inferi were now surrounding her.

Alena was battling one on one with a Hungarian Horntail. Once or twice she had electrocuted it so strong, the Horntail collapsed to the ground, crushing the death eaters under it. But it recovered quick, its tail, covered with poisonous spikes, when here and there, it was like it had a mind of its own. It breathed fire, fire hotter than any they have encountered. But it was no match for Alena. It was dead in no time, but about ten centaurs now filled the place of the Horntail.

Ryou was standing in a corner, away from all the commotion. He was controlling centaurs and a Hungarian Horntail now. No one noticed him in the corner, until a dementor came striding along. No, it was not a dementor, for dementors don't trip, this one did. It was a boggart, it quickly shifted from a dementor, to a Hungarian Horntail, to a Death Eater, to tens of Inferi. The Hungarian Horntail was sneaking up on the Boggart, and in no time, it was devoured. Ryou sighed, then he lost his focus, the Hungarian Horntail was turning on him now. He forced himself to focus, Centaurs were now stabbing at the Dragon, mindlessly.

Abby was lecturing to a group of Death Eaters in one corner, their eyes were on her, but they weren't focused. As if their minds were somewhere else. As Abby finished her speech, the Death Eaters stood up, and started battling each other to the deaths. She watched, pleased at the outcome of her ability, she turned around, only to find numerous hippogriffs, eyeing at her hungrily. She turned on the spot and disappeared right in front of them, the hippogriffs looked closely, little did they know, Abby had reappeared behind them, throwing daggers she drew out of thin air at them. She was now standing in a pool of blood, she turned on the spot again, appearing now in front of a new group of death eaters, a new lesson plan in mind.

A giant had joined their battle, the ceiling was now open, the giant barely fit the room, its head was still sticking out of the castle. Rye and Mae immediately went to battle with the giant. Mae was predicting the giant's every attack, she easily avoided his enormous hands, moving Rye out of the way when necessary. Rye was aiming beams at the giant, but the giant had tough skin, it only caused minor cuts. She took to aiming fire balls at the giant, which did a lot better than the Necro Vision. Now that the ceiling was open, or rather ripped off, Mae could now throw lightning at the giant, blinding it with the Shadow of Mara in the process. Soon, the giant collapsed to the ground, crushing a Horntail, several death eaters and nearly Sasha herself.

Kaye was in the center of the hall, producing grenades of pure hate and pain out of no where, throwing them at Death Eaters threatening to harm her friends. Whenever a centaur would come anywhere near her, she would blow super hot air at him, making him fall back, throwing grenades at him, until nothing was left. She looked around the room, taking in the battle before her, throwing centaurs off tracks, throwing grenades at Death Eaters and Ten Men. They were winning, most of Sasha's army was now defeated, the floor of the room, covered with blood and lifeless bodies of centaurs, Ten Men, Death Eaters and Dragons. They were going to win, nothing could stop them.

Sasha was growing furious, she could see so herself, they were losing, most of her army, now gone. And the seven of them, still standing, fighting and living… She had to put an end to this, she had to make them stop, she looked at the girl near her feet. She would kill this girl, that would make them stop, that would make them come to her senses, that she could not and _will not_ be stopped. She took Fine by the collar of her shirt, she put her up, high enough for everyone to see. The battle stopped, their eyes were on Sasha, a manic glint on her face.

She would kill Fine…

"If you want your little friend here, to live," she began in a big voice, "you will surrender now, bow down to me, you will give yourselves to _me, _as my servants." She looked at them all triumphantly, there was no escape now, they looked at Fine, her motionless body, hanging from Sasha's hands.

The seven were breathing hard, they stared at Sasha for a moment.

"Make your move now," she said, "or your friend dies, right this moment. When I count to three. One… two…th-." Her counting was cut short.

Abby, Alena and Mae, stepped forward, aiming their attacks at Sasha. She was hit, but not hard enough, she let go of Fine, letting her drop to the floor with a thud. She raised her hands, aiming them at the three.

"AVADA KEDAVRA!"

Jets of green light shot out from her palms, all coming towards the three. They ducked, but it was too late, the spell had hit them, they lay on the floor, motionless, their breathing stopped.

He four couldn't absorb what happened. They stared at the lifeless bodies of Abby, Mae and Alena just a few feet away from them. Rye broke free from the battle, she moved forward, closer to Sasha, but she was held back by Ryou. She struggled to free herself from Ryou's arms.

"Let go of me!" she screamed at him. "Let go! She deserves to be killed!"

"No, we wait." Was all he said. She stopped struggling, and Ryou let go of him.

Sasha had a sneer on her face.

"Very wise, young man," she said, she was staring at the four now, with an amused expression on her face, Fine, still on the floor before her. "You would be wiser to step forward now, give yourself to me, bow down." She said in a firmer tone.

No, they would not give in so easily. Justice must be served. They had to save Fine, they had to save themselves, they had to save everyone form Sasha's wrath, or Abby, Mae and Alena's act of bravery, would be no use. They gave their lives, hoping the four would do well, that the four would kill Sasha immediately.

But no, they couldn't attack just like that, they had to wait for her guard to go down.

_Do not, attack. I repeat, do _not. _Wait for her guard to go down, attack together._

Ryou's instructions played and played again their minds. They would wait.

"If you do not give in," she finally said. "Battle shall resume, you are three short now. You do not stand a chance." She said warningly. Ryou repeated the instructions more urgently now, he could've sworn he saw Nina step forward, then step back again at his instructions.

She waited only five seconds, she raised her hand, signaling her army to resume battle, and then, out of no where, a dagger came flying at Sasha. It pierced through her chest, directly at her heart. She stuttered for a moment, blood oozing out of her mouth and chest, she fell back, her lifeless body on the ground.


	34. Chapter 34 Sweet Escape

Two boys were standing in the doorway, tons of daggers in hand. _Knights in totally no armor._ Sasha's army stopped for a millisecond, totally possessed by shock and fear. Ramon and Abel flung more daggers at her seemingly-frozen minions, only to notice that the daggers flew past their bodies, her minions crumbling to the floor and joining her until death.

"Run to Bret at the left wing of the hall!" The two screamed together as Sasha's castle's walls began to shake. Sasha had forces outside of the castle, waiting, on standby. If worse came to worst for her, they'd have do destroy the castle; in turn, blocking the five's way out and all the prisoners in the dungeon to die immediately.

By the time they got to the left wing, Bret was freaking out like crazy, wondering what on earth could've happened to them.

"Finally!" He exclaimed. "I've got to get you guys out of here!" He was panicking and rejoicing at the same time.

"Sure," Replied Ryou coolly. "As long as it doesn't include endangering our behinds." The girls rolled their eyes. It seemed to be all casual their… until they heard a wall crash down to the castle's bridge.

"Now!" Screamed Bret.

"What the hell? You didn't tell us what to do yet!" They screamed back.

He calmed down and started to explain, "See that crystal circle over there?" They nodded. He continued. "The points around are like tips of a star. Different colors, right? Each of them correspond to your crystal. Please step on the point that matches yours." They positioned themselves, doing as he said so.

"Don't we need the crystals now?" Asked Nina.

"Oh, not anymore. The power is within you." He shrugged. As they held hands,

"Hey. Think of the Headquarters. Next thing you know you're there in no time." He flashed a smile at Fine.

"We're supposed to be coming with you…" Said Bret. The five stopped holding hands.

"Why not?" They asked.

"Just five points to the star, remember?" He gave them a sad smile. Little did Ramon, Abel and Bret know that if they thought hard enough about the person…the person would be able to join them too.

Ryou and the rest were back in the dining hall, with Dumbledore, Aina and Darah welcoming them back with open arms.

"We couldn't have done it without them," Said Nina, pointing at Ramon, Abel and Bret.

Dumbledore was pleased with them. "And without Mae, Abby and Alena." Tears were threatening to spill from the four girls' eyes. Dumbledore had a sad smile on his face. He tried cheering them up. "That was what they always wanted to do." He said. "And thank you for giving them the opportunity to do so." A funeral would be arranged for them tomorrow, right by the beautiful lake in the countryside. He told them that they could have time in the garden to themselves.

Ryou was first to go, and Rye followed him.

"Guess I was wrong about him." She said to Nina as she smiled. Ramon was with her, smiling back. _There we go with another couple._ Kaye, Rye and Fine thought. Rye left the three couples behind. _Looks like this is how it ends…_She thought. They'd have to go back living their old lives.

Time passed quickly, and it was nearing bedtime.

Ryou came up to her. "So, what are you gonna do after this?" He asked.

"School, that's all."

"Yeah. I guess. Me too."

"Guess I won't see you guys then…" She said sadly.

"Yeah." With that, he hugged her tight as they went back to the room they shared.

Rye thought about everything that had happened. Dumbledore. Aina. Darah. Sasha. Mae. Alena. Abby. Kaye. Nina. Ryou. Abel. Ramon. Bret. Even if there were not-so-pleasant memories, they all were precious to her and the rest. She'd miss them dearly, especially the idiotic one. With that, she closed her eyes.


	35. Chapter 35 Down the Grave

They woke up the next morning, not saying a word to each other. They got dressed for today's funeral.

Much to their surprise, they used normal transportation today, a van. The drive to the country side was long. Considering they all sat there in silence. Rye and Ryou sat next to each other, Rye, resting her head on Ryou's shoulder. Fine was next to Bret, absorbing the view out the window. Nina and Ramon sat together with Kaye and Abel at the back.

Three coffins lay before them by a beautiful lake in the country side. Just the sight of these made tears form in the eyes of the five. A priest had appeared for a proper burial ceremony. They stood there, eyes red and puffy as the priest was talking…

They were lowering the coffins in the hole, they took their last look at the remains of Mae, Alena and Abby.

Suddenly, Rye's visions were became a blur. She was seeing black dots, she was walking uncontrollably. She was getting nearer to the hole, Ryou tried to help her, but it was too late. She fell in. She heard the others calling out her name, she tried opening her eyes.

"Rye!" someone called out.

"Rye!" the same voice said.

"Wake up, Rye. It's Christmas."

She opened her eyes, she was greeted by the sight of her mother. She looked around, she was in her room, it was snowing outside. She looked at the clock, it was 9am, Christmas day. She recounted the dream she had that night, she remembered Ryou… and his eyes…that hair, and her friends, Kaye, Nina and Fine. And there were Abby, Mae and Alena who risked their dream lives to save Fine. Her mother was talking to her, but she didn't hear what she said.

"What?" she asked, leaving the thoughts of her dreams behind.

"I said you should get ready," her mom said, her tone was impatient. "we're going to your aunt's today." She left Rye's room without another word.

January 5, 2010. Homeroom.

"Good morning class." Their teacher said as she entered the room. Rye was sitting in her usual seat, beside Faye.

"Good morning Ms. Emala." They said as they stood up.

"We have a new classmate." She said simply. They all sighed, they were already stuffed like sardines in the classroom, they didn't need more. A girl with long, straight hair and glasses entered their room. Rye was staring at her, she looked vaguely familiar, like she's seen this girl before, but she couldn't put a finger on where-.

"Class, this is—."

"Kaye…" Rye said to herself, the ones sitting close to her turned to look at Rye. Obviously, she said it louder than she intended, Kaye had also heard her.

"Well, I'm guessing you two have met before then?" Miss Emala director her question at Rye, who was still receiving stares from her classmates. She shook her head. Kaye took a seat opposite of Rye.

"Uhm, do I know you from somewhere?" She whispered to Kaye. Kaye looked at her as if Rye asked her to juggle ten elephants at a time.

"Uhm, I don't think so." She said unsurely. Rye mentally slapped herself, she reminded herself that it was all just a dream. That maybe this was some sort of crazy coincidence.

The two ended up to be best friends. They spend the whole lunch time together, the whole recess together, even the whole weekend together.

Rye and Kaye sat in the detention room together. They had gotten in trouble the previous day… I would rather not mention why.

Rye sat quietly, gaping at the view in front of her. A guy, about a year older than her, was sitting next to her, his honey-brown eyes piercing, and that messy blond hair… In front of her, two girls maybe a year younger than her, one absorbed in her Manga, wearing white and black glasses, beside her, a girl scribbling notes in her animal-covered notebook, she had shoulder length-straight hair. A boy in the front of the class, about the same age as the guy next to Rye, he looked a little bit like Justin Bieber…Sitting behind Kaye was a guy, a little taller than her, he had brown hair and tan skin. Kaye was eyeing him with admiration. Their teachers, one considerably tall with curly hair, and one a bit whiter than her, a little shorter, stood in front, keeping an eye on all of them. Kaye elbowed Rye.

"Ouch!" she whispered angrily at Kaye. "What was that for?"

Kaye had a smirk on her face, it was familiar in a scary way… She looked at the guy beside Rye, then at her.

"The guy beside you is kinda cute." She said, raising an eyebrow. Rye immediately grew jealous, she had always wanted to learn how to do that.

"Then go ask him out." Rye said simply, turning back to her book, _City of Ashes._

"Oh _I'm _not interested in him," she said, making Rye roll her eyes at her, she knew where this was going… "_he's _interested in _you._"

"Shut up Kaye." She said, though she knew Kaye was right, in an awkward way. Visions of her dream before Christmas flashed in her mind… Kaye shrugged and turned back to converse with the guy behind her. Rye was just reading chapter 11 of her book, when the guy beside her stepped on her foot.

"OUCH." She glared at him, but the guy wasn't looking. She looked down on her desk, a folded sheet of paper was there. She took it and unfolded it, she knew what it would contain anyway…

_Hey, what's your name? _

Rye sighed. She took out her pen, and scribbled '_Rye, you?'_ even though she perfectly knew what the guy would write… She flung the paper back to the guy, hitting him in the face. She smiled and went back to her book. Seconds later, she felt paper on top of her head. She reached for it, glaring at the guy behind him while unfolding it.

_Ryou. :) Wanna hang out sometime?_

Rye smiled to herself.

It didn't surprise Rye that she, Fine, Kaye, Ryou, Nina, Ramon and Abel turned out to be close friends, since she had spent the whole week in detention with them. She grew close to their teachers as well, Aina and Darah. Heck, they grew so close that Aina and Darah allowed them to actually have _fun_ during detention. On their fourth day, it was Fine's birthday, she turned thirteen. Bret performed a song in front of the group, dedicated to Fine; Can't Stand It- Never Shout Never. By the end of the day, they were all full of cake and pizza, Fine, finding her new 'guy friend.'

It was lunch time and Rye, Kaye, Fine and Nina were waiting at their table for the guys. A girl in 11th grade passed by their table, Rye knew this girl, and every one of her friends hate her as well. She was tall, she was a brunette, she had fair skin, her name was Sasha.

"oops." She said, as she 'accidentally' dumped her carbonara and her milk shake all over Rye. Sasha's friends, whom Rye call the _Ten Men_ (even though they were girls) were laughing like maniacs in the background.

"Hey," a familiar guy's voice said from behind. Sasha turned around, only to be glared at by a pair of honey-brown eyes.

"Hey Ryou," Sasha said dreamily. _Is there _any _girl in this school who doesn't like Ryou? _Rye thought. Ryou glared at her. Sasha was getting uncomfortable by the minute, Rye was enjoying herself.

"Apologize to her," he said sternly. Rye was enjoying this, Sasha was lost for words.

"Ryou," she said as she leaned in closer, Ryou took a step backwards. "Surely you can't be defending this," she eyed Rye with distaste and said no more.

"I am," he said simply, his voice sounded tougher now… _He looks hotter when he's mad… ugh snap out of it. _Rye thought to herself again. Nina, Kaye and Fine were watching with interest… "Apologize to her," he said again. The Ten Men were standing in the background, admiring the view in front of them, as if it were a statue made out of real gold and diamonds.  
They had an unofficial staring contest, but not like Rye and Ryou's in her dream, this was scary. Ryou's eyes were filled with pure hatred, Sasha's were filled with… confusing love. Ryou stepped out of Sasha's view and went to Rye, holding out a hand.

"Come on I'll help you clean up." He said as he helped Ryou up. They left the cafeteria, a triumphant look on Rye's face. The look on Sasha's face when Ryou marched out with Rye was just priceless.

Abel and Ramon wouldn't let Sasha get away so easily. Let's just say Sasha left school that day smelling a little like banana smoothies and tuna sandwiches.

"Have you ever had the feeling," Rye began one day, they were at the park, it was a perfectly sunny day. "That when you see someone, you feel like you've known them forever, but the truth is, you only knew them for like a month?" They were sitting on the grass under an oak tree. Nina and Ramon were out biking somewhere around the park, Kaye and Abel were flying kites and Fine and Bret were feeding the ducks by the pond. Ryou looked at Rye, raising an eyebrow.

"You mean like déjà vu?" he asked. Rye nodded. "Well, yeah I guess, why?"

Rye hesitated for a moment. "It's because…" she paused "remember the day we met?"

"Yeah. Detention, right?" he chuckled.

"Well, I felt like I've known you somewhere else before. Every person in that room, to be exact. They've all been part of one of my dreams before."

"Was I in that dream?" Ryou asked curiously.

"Well, yeah." Rye shrugged.

"Then that means that you love me, right?"

"Conceited jerk." She said jokingly as she playfully hit Ryou.

"_Handsome, _conceited jerk." Ryou corrected her.

"Hey guys!" Nina called from the park bench, it looked like they were done biking for today. "Wanna come and grab some lunch?"

"Sure, we'll be there in a sec." Ryou called back at them. "Come on," he said as he helped Rye up.


	36. Chapter 36 Token of Appreciation

Ryou had walked Rye home, earning a suspicious stare from her mother. Still, her mother invited him in. Rye didn't notice that, and he followed her all around the living room until she bumped into him.

"What the -" He muffled her voice with his hand.

"We wouldn't want you screaming profanities here, right? Plus, your mom might think I taught you all those crazy stuff." Right. Her mom. She hadn't remembered that her mother was there.

"Stop acting like a jerk! You don't own the place!" Her arms were flailing, and he couldn't help but laugh and fall unto the couch.

"Well, we don't now, but… we did use to own the place." He said, smirking. Rye had a shocked expression on her face. He continued, nonetheless. "I see you've made some changes here and there…" He said as he was practically inspecting the house. Her mom walked back into the living room.

"Ryou? Is that you?" She said, looking at him skeptically. He smiled at her, a smile that looked like he was trying to win her over. Rye's mom smiled back.

"Yes Mrs. Estrella. It's been a long time, hasn't it? How are you?" He asked politely.

Rye couldn't believe her eyes. Ryou, being polite. She thought that thing only happened in movies!

"I'm fine, thanks," Said her mom. "So how's your father doing?"

"He's doing great, ma'am. Business deals in Paris and all. He sends photos though, truckloads of them." He chuckled.

"That's great then." Her mom said as she left them in the living room again.

"And I thought that was some creepy guy in there…" Her mom muttered, fighting a smile.

Rye was still surprised. They knew each other?

"Yeah, yeah. I used to help her around the house, you know. Back when we were still in diapers." He answered her unspoken question.

"You won't do anything freaky, right?"

"I can't betray your mom's trust."

"Great. Now my mom actually trusts the arrogant jerk!" She thought aloud. He smirked.

"Mrs. Estrella, I'll be leaving. Father should be expecting me soon." He said to her mother, quite formally.

"Take care." Her mother said to him. He nodded.

As he stepped out the door, he turned around, winking at Rye.

"Arrogant jerk…" She muttered, thinking that he was out.

"Yeah, but you like me anyways." He whispered back, smirking before he closed the door and headed home.

As Rye and the rest entered school, they saw Sasha probably having a face-off with three girls. The five quickly recognized the three as Mae, Alena and Abby.

"Why would you guys stick up for that loser?" Sasha said.

"Not our fault that we like to spend our time helping other that telling people that they don't look good, that they don't fit in…or that they don't look as horrible as you do." Said Mae, grinning triumphantly.

"At least I wasn't the one who spilled water on herself and looked like she peed in her pants!" Said Sasha, smirking darkly.

"Well, we weren't the ones who leaned on the wall to pose for stupid pictures…when it was blatantly wet and …Who was the girl with the Smurfette-esque hair back in third grade?" Said Alena, laughing hardly. They'd continue hitting her, and they would never let her retort back.

"Remember the girl with geeky glasses and long skirts singing off-tune?" Said Abby.

Sasha was greatly annoyed. She left, together with her 'minions' or…Sasha-wannabes. Except that for right now, no one would like to be in her position. The three did know how to dethrone a queen…or drama queen. Sasha just hoped that she had said enough insults to ruin their reputation. Ruined reputation or not, they didn't care. When Sasha was away, the whole student body clapped and cheered for Mae, Alena and Abby.

Mae, Alena and Abby were in the same level as Sasha was. They were close friends with her before, until they noticed that she just loved stepping on people for her power trip.

The five, now joined by Abel and the rest were heading for the library to study and read Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream. Ryou's class would join them too today. Much to Sasha's dismay, she had to go through some counseling session. As Rye picked the book from the shelf, Ryou tapped her shoulder.

"Hey…Look! Isn't that the dude from our freaky dreams?"

Rye turned around. The man was reading a book that wasn't from this library, but it looked like it was from the library in their 'dreams'. The man was with Darah and Aina, who were beaming at them. The man had a white beard and half-moon spectacles; he was dressed in clothing that didn't seem anywhere near modern. He winked at her. She was unable to move and taken by surprise.

Before they left, Sasha was taken to a secluded corner of the library, together with twenty people who's jobs were to butt in other peoples' lives. Or the anger management community.

"So you had the dreams too," Said Rye, delight obvious in her voice. "I'm pleased to know that I'm not the only crazy person." Ryou rolled his eyes.

"I am definitely not crazy. Just a misunderstood genius." He countered.

"Really? In what world?"

"This one, crazy."

"I'm not crazy. Just a misunderstood genius." She said as she smirked, throwing his words at him.

Abel and Kaye were talking about the 'dream' too, and comparing about their powers in their 'dream'. They ended up laughing at each other about some private joke that others would consider boring.

Nina and Ramon were at the school's greenhouse, reminiscing about kindergarten and thinking about auditioning for the school play.

Fine and Bret? Well, they were in the music room. He tried teaching her how to play the guitar, which ended up with her making him sing a song. After that they gave up on guitar lessons and settled on walking around the campus.

Mae was feeding her obsession on some book series about some wizard-dude with glasses, only to be utterly disappointed that the last book's film adaptation wouldn't be released until the next year.

Alena was sitting in the corner of the hall, busily reading her manga as she saw that it was the only peaceful place there, as the rest of the student body was eating in the canteen. Sometimes their voices could rival lions' growls.

And Abby? She was in the Home-Arts lab, successfully perfecting her own chocolate that was even better than the ones sold for insanely high prices.

They were too caught up in what they were doing to notice Aina and Darah slip a small token of gratitude inside their bags.


	37. Chapter 37 Fake iPhones

"Where did you get that iPhone?" Mrs. Estrella asked her daughter when she arrived from school today, obviously wealthier than when she left home.

"I don't know!" she argued for the tenth time, which was true. "I just found it in my bag! But it had a letter, saying it was for me! Look." She said, thrusting a piece of paper to her mother.

"Let me see that," she held out her hand, Rye reluctantly gave her iPhone in. Mrs. Estrella examined it closely.

"What's that Joy?" Her father asked, directing her question at Rye's mother.

"Rye got an iPhone as a gift today." She said, still examining it closely.

"Oh really?" her father sounded shocked, even happy. "Well then, let her keep it."

Mrs. Estrella turned to look at Mr. Estrella and gave him a look that said _keep quiet for now._ She turned the iPhone over, examining the back now. On the back, rather than a picture of an apple that has a bite out of it, it was a glowing reddish orange crystal in the shape of an apple.

"This is fake, honey." She said, handing back her iPhone. "But you can keep it, I guess." She said with a shrug and went to the kitchen to prepare dinner.

She was lying on her bed, staring at her iPhone and wearing the dream bracelet. They had all gotten these things, Abby, Rye, Mae, Alena, Rye, Ryou, Abel, Ramon, Bret, Nina, Kaye and Fine. They had mysteriously appeared in their backpacks just after Dumbledore had disappeared. Their dream bracelets were tweaked with a little now, they could visit each others' dreams, no limitations.

"So what do you guys want to do?" Abby asked, they were all in her dream. They were in some sort of land that was made purely out of candies in chocolate; even Abby's butler was made out of chocolate… a huge chunk of his arm was gnawed off, apparently by Abby herself.

"I know what I _don't _want to do," Bret said as he sank down on the cotton candy sofa. The peppermint sun was setting, the candy cane birds were sleeping in their nests, it was getting dark. They've been here for almost five hours. "Eat." He said. They all agreed, Abby looked taken aback, she, of course, was enjoying this candy coated paradise. Abby kept suggesting things they could do, most involving eating more or swimming in a lake of milk chocolate, in the end, she gave in.

"_Fine!_ What _do _you guys wanna do?" she asked.

"How about we go to-." Nina was about to suggest Kaye's dream, but she was cut short by what she saw. An old man was standing not too far away from them, he had a long white beard, he was old, be he looked wise, half moon spectacles were perched on top of his nose-.

"Nina," Ramon said, waving his hand in front of the girl. "what were you going to say?" Nina blinked twice, she looked back at where Dumbledore had been standing, but now, he was gone.

"Oh, I was going to suggest Kaye's dream," she hesitated for a moment. "But I think it's getting late, we should all get back now." They all went back to their own dreams, but not without Abby offering them more chocolate bunnies before they left.

Nina was strolling in the park under the night sky back in her dream. She heard someone stumble from behind her, she turned around in a flash, prepared to attack, even if this were still a dream. She focused her eyes on the dark figure on the pavement in front of her, it was moving, she looked closer, it was Ramon. She lowered her guard and helped him up.

"Ramon what are you doing here, in my dream I mean?" she asked him. Ramon was dusting off his clothes, then he replied, "I came to talk to you."

Nina raised an eyebrow, if Rye were here, she'd be jealous again of that eyebrow raising power…

"What?" she asked simply, it was all she could think of. Ramon was leaning in closer now, so close Nina could hear him breathing. Ramon moved closer, his lips were an inch away from Nina's, they both closed their eyes, moving closer still, then Ramon threw a water balloon at Nina's face.

"Ugh! Jerk!" she said, shaking the water on Ramon. They both laughed, Nina thought of catapults and big water balloons, which immediately materialized out of no where. Ramon grew wide eyed, he tried thinking of those things too, they appeared beside him, but it was Nina's dream, she had control, she immediately turned the water balloons into birds and the catapults into swings.

They played for quite a while; they were running on the grass, the sprinklers were on, they were soaking wet. Ramon stopped in the middle of the park, just under a cherry tree, the light of the moon had a romantic effect on him… Nina stopped beside him, holing his hand tight. A minute ago, they were staring at a distance, but now, they were locked in a tight hug, lips practically glued together, the light of the moon shining down on them.

Bret and Fine were in an open field, animals grazing here and there. It was sunset; they were sitting on top of a hill, enjoying the view in front of them. Fine's head was resting on Bret's shoulder, Bret, stroking her hair. Bret sat up straight, Fine had a quizzical look on her face. Bret answered her unasked question. He held out his hand, then as if by magic, his guitar appeared in it. He took Fine by the hand, helping her stand up, he knelt down in front of her and started singing to the tune of 'Trouble'- Never Shout Never.

He looked up at Fine at the end of the song, took her hand, and started kissing it, as if it were the most valuable diamond on earth.

Kaye and Abel were by the beach, the sun was just about to rise. They were standing in the ocean, the water was up to their knees, holding hands, they walked along the beach, oblivious to all the birds chirping, all the fish looking at them.

"So Abel…" Kaye began as they sat under the palm tree, absorbing the wonderful view of the sunrise in front of them. "What do you think of…?"

"Think of what?" he asked.

"This sunrise!" she improvised poorly. Abel looked disappointed, but said, "oh, it's very beautiful."

"Uhuh…" Kaye mumbled to herself.

"Beautiful like you, Kaye." He said after a moment's pause… Kaye turned to look at him, to see any hint of mockery on his face, but there was none. Abel ran the back of his hand on Kaye's cheek, making her blush, he stopped at Kaye chin, holding it close. Kaye closed her eyes, in a second, their lips were locked together, birds began to sing, the sun had fully risen now.

"Do you think they're ready professor?" Aina asked. They were in the astronomy tower of the headquarters, Dumbledore was looking through a telescope. He removed his eye from the telescope and turned to look at his two assistants.

"They are, and always will be ready, Aina. But let us wait for the right time," he said. "I do not see anything urgent happening right now." As if on cue, a flash of red light shone from the glass ceiling of the astronomy tower, a planet had exploded.

"But then again," he added as an afterthought. "it's better to get them when we're sure they're ready!"

And at that, Aina and Darah went storming out of the tower, heading for Manhattan, where their heroes lay in their beds right now, sleeping soundly.

"Do you really think it's urgent, sir?" a new voice asked from the corner, Dumbledore turned to look at him.

"If planets are exploding, Jace," he said. "Then I am _sure _that this is urgent."


	38. Chapter 38 First Official Mission

There was a loud thud in Rye's room. The cold air filled her room. She clearly didn't remember leaving her window open. A figure in black had just climbed up her window. The figure was tall, having blond hair, golden eyes and a slim, muscular build.

"N-no! N-no! What the hell are you doing? Not again! I. Will. Not. Be. Sleep. Kidnapped. Again! Put that thing down!" She screamed, referring to the sharp metal object he possessed.

"Hello Rye," He said in a flat voice, with hidden amusement. "What do you mean by 'not again'?"

"Who are you? And why do you know my name? And what are you here for?" She asked consecutively.

"Too many questions." Heck, he was the one who came barging in there, for all she knew, he could be a killer! With that thought, her eyes drifted to the sharp object still in his hand.

"I see you like my stele." He said.

"Your what?" She asked. Is he crazy? What was that? Special knife?

"Stele. Pronounced as stay-lay. Don't worry. It's not designed to kill." Rye was in conversation with the stranger. The boy's phone rang. He turned around and answered his phone, which looked quite similar to Ryou's.

"Hello?" He said into the speaker.

"Jace!" Said a velvety male voice, which sounded like he was both amused and annoyed. So the blond one was Jace.

"Magnus," Said Jace. "How's it going? Any luck with the boy? The girl kinda freaked out." He said, chuckling. The boy? What did he mean? Are they badgering another person?

"Freak out? That's it? I think the boy went through some trauma…" Said Magnus.

"If you left in what you wore earlier… I don't blame Ryou." Ryou?

Ryou was in shock. Suddenly this dude with sparkly colored hair and rainbow leather pants comes rushing into his room like his butt's on fire. Ryou's eyes were wide. This dude just wore too much glitter. Sensory overload. He looked away.

"Get out of my room! Get that away from me!" The boy was now covered in glitter.

"I haven't introduced myself yet," Said glitter-dude. "Magnus Bane. High Warlock of Brooklyn." Huh? And why does he consider himself the high what of what? Blue-and-red sparks came flying out of Magnus' fingers. "You heard right. Warlock."

"Warlock," Ryou repeated. "Like…magic and all?"

"Yes," Magnus answered. "Magic, demons all the rest of the things you never thought were real." He was right. Ryou never thought dudes dressed like this were real. Ryou wanted to get to the point.

"And…why are you here?"

"Well-" _Ring!_ Someone was calling Magnus. "Hold on for a second."

Magnus answered his caller with variants of 'yes' 'yeah' and 'uhuh'.

"Now, Izzy? Are you sure? Did he give you the signal? No? Then why now?" His voice was a tad bit higher than usual. "Just a party? Come on Isabelle. Where's Alec? Other house? Okay. Anyway. We'll wait until the signal. Okay. WAIT." Said Magnus, highly emphasizing the word 'wait'. Seems like the girl he was talking to was an avid partygoer.

"Okay, now back-" Ryou's dad opened his door.

"I thought I heard voices." Said his father. Magnus was now nowhere to be seen.

Kaye was about to exit her bathroom until a pale figure with long black hair appeared in front of her. She took a few steps back. Kaye knew that the girl had weapons hidden in her clothing. Sure, her bracelet looked harmless, but it was a glamoured electrum whip. Kaye's eyes were fully focused on the whip until the girl cleared her throat.

"You must be wondering why I suddenly appeared in your private place," The girl began. She looked lethal enough… and if voices could actually kill.

"No. I've expected you." Said Kaye, hoping that her voice came out flat. No. Her voice came out all shaky and panicky. How can the future-seer not see her coming?

"Your reaction contradicts your statements." The girl said, smirking. "You wouldn't see it. I've got a rune on me. You'd never see me coming." Kaye's eyes widened. "Save the questions for later."

"What are you?" Said Kaye, confused. The girl looked irritated first, then calmed.

"You think I'm a demon?" The girl asked back.

"What normal person would come rushing into one's bathroom?" Kaye asked, incredulous.

"I'm human. And I have things to tell you." It was all going smooth for them until they heard the crashing of glass.

Fine was busy downloading applications for her iPod Touch when a boy with jet-black hair stood behind her. As she turned around, she met blue eyes.

"Hello." The blue-eyed boy said. "Uh, I mean…Hey. The man with the beard sent me." He seemed just as confused as she was. He decided that he'd start with the basics.

"Alec." He said, introducing himself. "Fine." She said, extending a hand which he shook.

"Do you need something?" She asked politely to the boy. The boy looked polite, so maybe she could be nice to him too.

"Uh…Yeah, actually. Your ears." He hoped he picked the right words. Fine just looked mortified, and she staggered a few steps backward.

"YOU PLAN TO CHOP MY EARS OFF?" She covered her ears, as if she'd never have them again. What she said just filled Alec's mind with gory images from the previous hunt in the club. The shape-shifting demon had its body cut in half…eyes removed and all…

"NO! NO! NO! That's not what I meant!" He seemed sincere enough, so she calmed down. "What I mean is… I need you to listen."

"Oh." Was all Fine said, she was slightly embarrassed for assuming so quickly.

Alec's phone rung.

"Alec, do you remember the recovery spell I taught you?" Asked Magnus. Of course Alec remembered, heck, he remembered everything about Magnus.

"Uh...H-hi! Hey!" Answered Alec, awkwardly glancing at Fine and turning red. Fine already knew what he preferred, so it was fine for her. She gave him an encouraging grin. As Alec talked to Magnus for quite a very long time, he discovered that Fine had already fallen asleep.

Nina awakened by a screeching sound by her door. She opened it, only to see a pretty red-headed girl carving swirls on her door, similar to the swirls for the portal.

"Hi." The girl started. She had pretty green eyes and pale complexion that worked for her well. She was dressed in night clothes too. "You weren't the only one disturbed from sleep," Said the girl, giving Nina a warm smile while pointing at her own clothing. "It's Clary, by the way."

"Nina." She said, inviting Clary in. As Clary sat on her bed, Clary said.

"I'm glad that you didn't freak out like the rest of them did. I guess they had heart attacks along the way."

"Clary," Said Nina, unsure. "What are we waiting for?"

"Jace's call."

"And who exactly is this Jace?"

"A friend. And he's with us." Nina noticed Clary redden a bit while saying 'friend'.

"Just a friend?" Said Nina, smirking. As Clary was supposed to retort back, screams filled the hallway.

Ramon, Abel and Bret were running like lions in the hotel hallway where Nina also stayed.

"THE WOOOLF'S COMIN THIS WAY!" Screamed Abel.

"WHICH ONE?" Asked Ramon.

"BOTH! AND THE VAMPS WITH THEM!" Answered Abel, panicking. Luke, Maia and Simon were the ones assigned to Ramon, Abel and Bret. Unfortunately for them, theirs had gone worse. The three saw Luke and Maia in wolf form, and Simon's fangs. You know they freaked out. Luke and the others' last resort was to come to Clary. And that's what they did. As weird as it may seem, they carried the boys to Nina's room. Seeing Nina, Ramon and the others seemed to calm down.

Clary's phone rang. "Hello? Jace! Now? You sure? On loudspeaker? Oh. All of us? Okay." Luke, Maia, Simon, Magnus, Alec and Jace were also on the eight-way call.

"So, here it is," Said Jace. "Dumbledore says you're ready for your first official mission."

"ARE YOU INSANE? YOU CALL THE FIRST ONE UNOFFICIAL?"

Jace had ignored them. "Okay, Clary. Take them to the car to the headquarters." With that, as they opened the door, they saw each other, even in different locations.

"Get in." Said Clary. They stepped in. Jace would be driving, and Clary was riding shotgun. As the eight were about to shout at Jace's ear, they quickly averted their eyes away from whatever Jace and Clary were doing…


	39. Chapter 39 Notes from the Authors

Heyy :D By now you've probably finished the first installment in our series :D  
Yes, first installment :D. There will be a next one, tho we're not sure whether we're going to write it during this school year or next summer. Depends really :D  
Yeah yeah as you can see we used a lot of characters and ideas from different books; Mortal Instruments, Potter, Graceling etc. :D But this is _fanfic.._. so, yeah :D haha.

Anyway, we'd like to thank you guys for sticking with us 'till the very end :-bd :)).  
watch out by the way, for our next story :)


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